Strength of Heart ARC
by Caer
Summary: Total peace is an illusion. As long as there are humans, there will be conflict and war. Or will there? After Colony 198, the Gundam Pilots are called once again to help avert a disaster, but it's only the beginning. Eventual 1x4 and other pairings.
1. Default Chapter

Hi everybody.  I know I haven't posted in a while and I haven't even been a very good review bunny the way I used to be.  Most of you know things have been sort of rough for me for the past few months.  Since November actually.  But I am getting back into things slowly.  Including writing.

However, being especially fond of 1x4, I have had this fic in the works for over a year now, but had not the time or the proper motivation to start it.  It is huge people… for me anyway.  I have no idea how long it could turn out to be.  It's very sci-fi and action packed (I hope) and will eventually have Heero and Quatre together as well as other pairings.  As if you couldn't guess that. 

I'm calling it the "Strength of Heart" ARC, sort of playing off the theme of my very first 1x4 fic "Symbiosis".  The theme of the chapter names in volume one come from a wonderful play called "The Fantasticks."  This was the longest running off Broadway musical in New York.  It finally ended its original run a year or two ago at 43 years I believe.  If you ever have the chance to see it, it's quite charming.  

I hope you like the fic.  It's good to be writing again.

No real warnings for this one besides some language.  Thanks to Kasra who is my official beta for this Arc.  And thanks to all the friends who gave me support when I was down.  You've no idea what it means to me.

STRENGTH OF HEART

Volume 1- "This Plum is too Ripe"

Prologue 

After Colony year 197. The people have regained their peace. In the history that followed, weapons called Mobile Suits...including Gundams, never appeared again.

Ending of Gundam Wing – Endless Waltz

Their moon was cardboard, fragile, it was very apt to fray. And what was last night's scenic, may seem cynic by today. The play's not done--oh no--not quite, for life never ends in the moonlight night. And despite what pretty poets say, the night is only half the day. So we would like to truly finish what was foolishly begun, for the story is not ended and the play is never done until we've all of us been burned a bit and burnished by the sun.

The Fantastics – Intro to the second act.

~~~~~~

AC -199

On a little dirt road in Hurricane Utah, the mosquito-like drone of a dirt bike could be heard echoing through the night air.  It remained unheard by all but a few drunken teenagers and the night wildlife of the dimly colored desert.

Tires spun in the dirt as the bike climbed the tiny path.  The rider expertly maneuvered the machine adeptly around fallen trees and washouts as he rode further into the hills.  He finally came to a stop where the hills flattened out and the stars could once again be seen.  With the engine quieted, the sound of crickets could once again be heard as well as the night rustling of the wind and an occasional coyote call.  The rider's keen ears picked up even the sounds of the prowling night life.  A few bats flitted almost silently past his face.  In any other situation, his reflexes would have been so fast, he would have been able to catch one of the elusive little rodents.  

Tonight however, was different.   The difference was made by about three quarters of a bottle of vodka.  The remaining liquid was waiting in his hand for a happy journey down his inebriated gullet.  He got off the bike relatively steadily for his condition, but fell gracelessly onto his posterior, once he no longer had the heavy metal mass to hold him up.  He sat perplexed for a minute.  He hadn't felt drunk as he drove up the hill.  He supposed that the memory of having gone up and down that hill so many times made the alcohol moot.  Of course, now that he looked, there were quite a few scratches on his arms as well as some new dents in the bike that seemed to tower above him.  Great.  Mission accomplished.  He nearly choked on his soft laughter.  He set out to get blind drunk and hell if he wasn't nearly there.  To celebrate, he took another drink.

Now why was he drunk?  There must have been a terribly important reason for it since he almost never drank.  Oh yes.  He remembered.  He remembered almost everything.  He remembered the eloquent speech she had delivered to the delegates as she declared her resignation, opting to finish college before returning to the front line.  He remembered the relaxed happy smile on her face as she left the Trade Center.   He remembered the new shoulder length haircut she sported 30 minutes later.  It made her look older somehow, more mature.  He remembered the hat she bought a bit later to add to the new look.

Oh, and he remember the look of serene contentment as she found shelter and love in the arms of another man.

Not that she'd ever been his to begin with.

He also remembered the reason he had come up here.  It definitely wasn't to look at the stars.

Idiot.  It wasn't like him to forget his mission like that.  Then again, he didn't often carry out missions with a quart of hard liquor running through his veins.  He reached up and tried to pull himself up, but the bike ended up falling on him instead.  Damn it.  He wiggled out from under it, ignoring the burn on his leg where the still-hot engine had bitten him.  He stood up shakily and picked the little bike up.   Feeling like he was doing all of this underwater, he swung his leg up over the seat.That took a few tries before the foot had gotten high enough to clear the seat.   He leaned unsteadily forward as his foot found its hold and he started the engine.

He looked unhappily around for his precious bottle, but when he found it still on the ground a few feet away, he decided against getting it.  He was pretty close to passing out now and if that happened, his mission would surely fail.

He revved the engine a few times to get himself ready before tearing out, the dirt flying from underneath his tires before he released the clutch and flew off.  Heading for the sky ahead, there were just a couple of seconds for final thoughts before the rider found himself in midair, with no ground to speak of underneath him.  As the ravine got closer, he closed his weary eyes.

Mission Complete.

~~~~

"Master Quatre."

A soft sigh escaped his slightly dry lips and his eyelids slowly rose as he came out of his deep state of meditation.  He now realized that his name had been uttered more than once before it had reached him.  He took a few seconds to resituate himself in the real world.  The sun was almost gone now, leaving on the desert sand only a carpet of orange and red in its wake.   Finally, he swiveled his head to answer the call.

"Rashid." He smiled. "What is it?"

The large Arabian's staid look softened as Quatre's smile melted it, and he smiled back at the smaller younger man.

"A call for you, Master Quatre.  It is on a Preventor channel."

Quatre sobered and stood, brushing the coarse sand off of his pants.  Though he had felt no urgency or alarm from Rashid, the Preventors rarely contacted him unless there was a serious need.

"Is it Wufei?"

Rashid nodded, prompting the same gesture from the blond.

"We had better hurry then."  He started forward, then cried out, clutching his chest and falling forward at the same time.  Rashid caught him, having seen the glassy look cover his master's bright green eyes right before the attack.  Though this did not happen often, the large man was accustomed to these spells.  He was only glad that he could be there for the boy, to keep him safe when he had these seizures.

Quatre took a few sharp breaths and his eyes seemed to clear.  He realized he was resting in the hardened arms of his companion and dear friend.  Rashid was looking at him with his usual fatherly concern.  The blond responsibly took a few deep breaths and stood up shakily, trying to look past the blinding pain he had just felt.

"I'm okay."  He took another shaking breath and looked into his concerned friend's eyes.  "I'm okay," he asserted firmly. "We need to talk to Wufei."  

"Let me help you Master."

Quatre nodded and leaned gratefully on his friend as they made their way back to the compound.  The blond stared at his feet, making sure they would move one in front of the other without tripping over any obstacles as his mind and heart raced.

_Heero… What's wrong?_


	2. Strength Of Heart Arc - Chapter 1

Here we go guys.  The prologue was just the appetizer. Here's the beginning of the meal.  I hope you all have fun with this.  Thanks for the great reviews already.  This first part moves a little slow, but it gets better.

Once again, thanks to Kasra for such wonderful betaing… huh… that word could easily be mistyped as 'beating'  ^__^  

Love you guys!

Strength of Heart ARC  

Installment 1- Chapter 1- Soon it's Gonna Rain

Beep.

Beep!

BEEP!

Something was beeping.

He rolled over groggily to turn the alarm off, but his hand couldn't find any such annoying contraption.  What he did find was stabbing pain all along his shoulder and his left side.  He whimpered low in his throat and opened his eyes.  They were met with the harsh blue of the desert sky and a lone hawk circling in the distance, its eerie hunting cry, diminutive within the vastness of the land.  He was not at home.  He was in the middle of the Utah dessert, bleeding, but most definitely alive.  He groaned.

Beep.

Weakly, he looked over at his right arm, which was twisted above his head somewhat, to see his wrist pad signaling an urgent message.    With effort, he opened his parched lips.

"Acknowledged."   His voice was dry and cracked.  "Report," he rasped out.   Numbers and graphs started running down the small screen.  He had to repeat the message three times to get it clear in his fogged brain.  Eventually though, he understood.

Apparently, it wasn't such a good time to die.  He tried to sit up, but the very effort of contracting his muscles sent pain shooting through his arm and back.  He gritted his teeth and sat up anyway.  Breathing deeply, he popped his shoulder back into place and stood.  Swaying, he looked dispassionately at the mangled hunk of metal that was once a motorcycle.  It wouldn't be much help.  He turned west tiredly and with a great weariness, both in body and in soul, limped for the road.

~~~~~~

Trowa Barton stepped out of the small shower in his trailer after washing off the remains of his day.  Stretching languidly as the cool air hit his sore wet muscles, he walked, bare and unconcerned in the privacy of his home, to the small cabinet that held his towels.  He failed to notice his communications panel or he would have seen a very surprised Chinese boy staring at him from the screen.  He came to awareness soon enough as he turned, pulling the small towel around his hips.  As he registered someone watching him, his eyes widened slightly.

"Wufei?"

Wufei looked at him sternly, eyebrow raised.

"For a minute I thought I had reached an illicit number."  

Trowa shrugged and sat down at the desk.  "It's nothing you haven't seen I'm sure.  What's up?"

Wufei's demeanor hardened.  "We have a problem in the L5 cluster," he leaned forward slightly and his image disappeared to be replaced with charts.  "I have a confirmed account of an illegal weapons facility hidden in the abandoned outer colonies."  Another picture of a resource satellite appeared.  A close up revealed a docked ship transporting standard series beam rifles.  "It's big," Wufei interceded.  "I've called all the pilots here.  We need to shut it down with a minimum loss of lives, none if possible."  Wufei's image reappeared.  "I need partners I can trust.  Infiltration experts.  Can you come?"

Trowa nodded.  "Cathy won't be happy."

Wufei snorted.  "Is a woman ever happy?"

The corners of Trowa's mouth rose slightly.  "Maybe not."

"I've cleared a spot for you on the next shuttle to L1.  We want to expedite the operation 48 hours from now if possible.  I've requested the help of all the pilots."

"That's fine," Trowa said

Wufei nodded.  "Standard gear will be provided, but you should bring anything else you think you need."

"Right," Trowa nodded in return.  He started a silent inventory in his head of what he would need.  

A slight pause from Wufei, then, "Clothes would be a good idea."

Trowa smiled this time.  "I'll keep that in mind."  Opening his drawer in the meantime, he took out the small case that held his favorite weapons.

"I'm transmitting your transportation arrangements as well as the rendezvous location.  Thank you Trowa."

"I'll be seeing you."  Trowa closed the channel and started packing. Only two outfits would be required, one outfit for the mission that he would put on now, and one to change into after.  He also packed his smaller gun and the concealed wrist-knife Cathy had given him for Christmas.  It was all that would be needed for now.   He quickly memorized the needed information Wufei sent and systematically purged it from all database memory systems.

As he headed out the door, he paused.  As an afterthought, he grabbed one more item, a music book he had picked up a few weeks ago with the intention of eventually giving it to Quatre.  It was full of old jazz piano tunes.  He wasn't sure why he had picked it up.  He was not in the habit of sentimental impetuosity.  He smiled at the ground.  Maybe this was a good sign for him.  It would be good to see them again.  He really wanted to see them.  It had been a few years.

Wufei had stayed with the Preventers, and the other four boys had slipped into obscurity.  Duo was on L2 with Hilde, running some sort of scrap yard.  Heero had all but disappeared, though he was probably doing odd jobs, while safeguarding Relena and keeping an eye on the Earth Sphere Unified Nation. Quatre was somewhere in the East with the Maguanacs, hiding from Winner Enterprises.  Last Trowa had heard from them, they were working on terraforming technology for Relena.

Heero, Duo, Quatre, Wufei… Trowa smiled.  It would be good to see them all.

He ran as though the very devil were behind him.  Through an abandoned cornfield, he weaved back and forth through the husks, heading for the retention wall ahead.  Running up the wall, he barely managed to grasp the edge some 14 feet up and pull himself up.  From there, he made his way around the narrow edge of the small reservoir before leaping the 14 feet on the other side to land quietly in the grass below.  No sooner had he landed, he took off running.  Ahead was a poor housing development with plenty of cover.  Most of the houses were abandoned, but he headed for the house with a few flowers still fighting to live on the edge of the fence by the road.  With a leap, he reached up and cleared the privacy fence to land in the small backyard with the dry grass.  He tore toward the back porch and reached for the doorknob, slipping quickly inside.

Duo leaned against the wall of the kitchen; his chest heaving while Hilde stared at him, waiting for something.  Duo checked his watch.

"Twenty three minutes," he panted.  "Not bad."

"Two minutes over sport,"  Hilde chided, smiling.  Duo panted, grinned and held out his arms.  "Com'ere."  She moved forward and into Duo's waiting embrace.  He held her gently as he got his breath back.  He sniffed.  "What's cookin'"?  
  


She pushed him off, a look of cheerful distaste adorning her somewhat Asian, somewhat Italian features.  "Duo you stink.  It's steak that Quatre sent."  Duo's eyes lit up.  "But you have to get cleaned up first!"  She waved a pairing knife at him as she sliced some peppers.

Duo smiled and stuck a hand in his armpit, pulling it out and sniffing.  "I don't smell anything."  He moved toward her to wipe his hands on her shirt, but she held the knife up threateningly.  "Don't even try it Duo, or I eat steak by myself tonight."

"Fine, fine."  He moved toward the little bathroom.

"You have a message by the way!"  Hilde called out.  

She could hear the message being played in the living area, but she couldn't make out the voice.  It was familiar somehow.  She made an effort not to listen since she knew it bothered Duo.  There were still a lot of behaviors the war had left him that he couldn't let go, including extreme caution and innate distrust.  Plus she was too nosy and she knew it.

She turned when she sensed him in the doorway.  He gave a weak smile.

"Looks like you'll have to eat that steak by yourself after all."

"Why?"  Hilde dropped the knife, moving toward him. "What happened?"

"Wufei called.  There's a mission."

Hilde just looked at him, waiting for the rest.

"They found a resource satellite manufacturing weapons."

"Damn it!"  Hilde followed him toward the small bedroom with him while he packed.

Heero Yuy stepped off the shuttle on L1 and into the crowded spaceport.  The busy hub was mainly filled with business class travelers, waiting for transportation to work, though there was a healthy contingent of happy tourists.  Heero felt some amount of content.  Three years ago, people were afraid to travel freely.  Now, it had become a part of life.  People were at peace again.  He had been a part of bringing that peace.  It meant something to him to help maintain it… at least one more time.

Stiff from the flight, he headed for the transport lot.  Halfway there, he thought he heard his name.  He turned and scanned the busy port.

"Heero!  Over here."

He turned 45 degrees and caught a blond head weaving through a group of people headed in the opposite direction.  Heero waited for the young man to reach him.  Quatre was smiling widely.  He stopped a few feet away, barely containing his excitement.  

"Quatre."  Heero nodded greeting, but the blond would have none of it.  A small carry-on dropped to the floor carelessly and the Japanese man was wrapped in strong pale arms.  He didn't return the hug, nor did he fight it, rather he concentrated on not grunting with pain as his tender arm and ribs were agitated.  Despite the pain, something in the blonde's attention worked like a salve on his pain and things seemed a little better.  That's how Quatre was.

Quatre's expression of worry showed freely on his face as long as Heero could not see it from his position.   The empath   could feel both physical and emotional pain radiating off the boy like heat.  He was deeply hurt.  Quatre forced a smile to his face and held Heero at arms length, looking him over.

"You've grown," Quatre said with a smile, even in his voice.  

"You too," Heero stated calmly.  Quatre smiled and picked up his bag. 

"Come on.  I have a car waiting."  Quatre guided Heero gently toward his waiting vehicle, a guiding hand on the muscular back, which was removed once they were headed in the right direction.

They got in the car and a few words got them headed toward Preventor headquarters.

Heero watched as Quatre talked animatedly to the driver.  The young man had not changed too much.  They were both still about equal in size.  Heero was five foot seven, so Quatre was probably the same or very close.  He was a little older in the face.  Some of the baby fat had fallen away from his cheeks, making his jaw line and cheekbones a little more pronounced.

Still, all in all, he looked to be the same Quatre.  The last time they had seen each other was three years ago in the hospital when Heero had collapsed after the Maremeia incident.  After that, he, like the other Gundam pilots had made himself scarce.  Occasionally, he would see Wufei at Alliance conferences and exchange a silent greeting.  Besides those few times, he had not seen any of the other pilots for three years.

Quatre joined him in the back seat, shutting the door.   

"He said that there's a Middle Eastern restaurant on the way with great falafel.  We have some time before the meeting and I can brief you on what I've found.   What do you say?"

Heero stared, at the exuberant boy.  He wasn't used to attention like this.  He nodded helplessly.

Quatre smiled and asked the driver kindly to take them there.  Sitting back in his seat, his bag in his lap, he pulled a small data pad from the side pocket and gave it to Heero.  The four by eight inch pad was filled with account files and pictures of the resource satellite where the weapons had been seen.  

"Wufei sent you more information than what I have."

Quatre shook his head.  "No, he hasn't.  Unfortunately, some of this has been unknowingly funded by Winner Enterprises."  

Quatre pushed a button on the data pad to show a budget spreadsheet of an L2 relief project.

" We had some accounting glitches showing up in our mining facilities.  Raw material and money were being sent to a man named Rajesh Bayati.   He was in L2 running a facility to help repair damages on the neglected colonies of L2, so our company was funding quite a bit of it.  It was well hidden.  They basically documented the highest bidders but paid for the lowest.  That included materials.  Unless someone was really paying attention to the details, they wouldn't know."

Quatre touched a switch on the data pad and a picture appeared.  The man was an Indian of the darker variety, with a moustache and a mole on his left cheek.  He was a little overweight with big eyes, a slightly bulbous nose and a balding patch at the front of his wavy black hair.

"When I saw this picture, I knew I had seen him before.  He used to know my father." 

"So he's sending money and material to build weapons?"

Quatre narrowed his eyes in thought as he spoke his ideas.  

"I'm sure they don't trust the status quo.  Many people think that it's just another false government that will eventually become dictatorial like the rest.  If we take all weapons away, it means they can't protect themselves if things go bad.  The government would have all the power.  Factions like the one Bayati is supporting aren't comfortable just giving their weapons to the newest fad authority."

"Mmm," Heero nodded, then looked squarely.  "But there's something else."

Quatre nodded.  He had that 'unfinished' look in his eyes as if there was something bugging him but he didn't quite know how to say it.  Not something Heero would miss after working so close with the boy before.

"Yes.  I'm wondering why Wufei called all of us, and why he only gave us minimum details.  The channel is always secure with us, so why would he not feel comfortable giving us all of the information up front?  And why did he call for all five of us?"

Heero nodded.  "You're right.  It means that he suspects someone on his side."

Quatre leaned forward in his seat, resting his hands on his head in thought.  

"I'm sure something is wrong.  He doesn't necessarily need all of us for this mission and he's always tried to respect our privacy before.  I think there's something he needs to tell us."

Heero just watched the blond as he thought in silence, his head bowed.  He let his own mind wander as his eyes fell into a soft focus on Quatre's white blond hair.  Indeed, Wufei had not just called some, but all five of them.  From what he could see in the schematics, any two of them would have compromised the weapons hub with relative ease.  So why would he request all five?  Why withhold the details from them? He had entertained the suspicion himself.  Wufei wasn't the type to indulge in nostalgia.  He wouldn't call them together just for a reunion.

Within minutes, they had stopped for food.  Quatre returned to talking animatedly about his stay with Rashid in the desert.  He and the Maguanacs had spent a year in space, working on planetary colonization projects, but had moved back to earth for some time on land.  They had spent the last two years in Lower Nubia, Egypt, working at an old weapons facility that Winner Enterprises had acquired and converted into a research center for environmental technologies.  Quatre worked there part-time as a researcher; the remainder of his time, making certain the funds were delegated properly.

"Maybe you should come down after this Heero?  I would love the company."  They were eating falafel in the car.  He looked expectantly at Heero through pale bangs.

"Hn," Heero merely took another bite of his pita and looked out the window.  Quatre sighed.  Figuring Heero out would be an uphill climb and it scared him.  He had a feeling that if Heero disappeared again after this, it would be forever.  

He bit his lip and stole a glance at the stoic youth beside him.  Yes, he had a very bad feeling about that.

As Heero and Quatre climbed the steps of the great black metal skyscraper that was the home of the Preventors headquarters, they saw Duo disappear through the revolving door, his braid very nearly getting stuck in the crack between door and wall as it turned.  Quatre laughed out loud.

"Come on Heero.  DUO!"  He ran up the rest of the stairs and toward the door.  Heero felt a smile tugging at his lips as he broke into a jog behind the vibrant boy, despite the pain it caused.

The three were herded into a small conference room overlooking the city to wait.  As Quatre set his bag down on the floor by his seat, he was treated to a bit of his own medicine and Duo literally picked him up in a hug.  Quatre squeezed back and smiled, as he was bodily swung back and forth.  He laughed.

"Duo put me down!"  

Duo did so and shook Quatre's hand heartily.  

"Quatre, you look great!"  He seemed almost out of breath due to the excitement as he looked over at Heero too.  "You both look great!"  He looked at Heero a bit harder.  "Nice head wound there Heero.  You know, you can take the elevator now.  You don't have to jump out windows anymore."  He winked.  Heero said nothing, but there was a laughing light behind the stony eyes.  He sat down.

Quatre quickly subdued his look of surprise of yet another injury hiding under the dark brown hair of his comrade.  He smiled at them both.

"It's been three years.  I wish we could have gotten together under better circumstances."

Duo sobered a bit, but kept his smile.

"It's a setback to peace, finding this.  But we can take care of it."  He put an arm around Quatre's shoulders, swinging them around almost drunkenly to look at Heero.  "Then, we go out for dinner!  My treat!"

Quatre smiled good-humouredly from beneath his bangs, his eyes smiling at Heero and his arm around Duo's waist.

"It sounds good."

"Are you scheming?  I figured you two would already be making plans for the rest of us."  A quiet voice came from behind them and Quatre and Duo disengaged to turn.  Quatre's eyes lit up.

"Trowa!"  He went forward and hugged the lithe body of the brunet, who seemed to have maintained his more impressive stature.  He still stood about two inches taller than the rest of them.  Duo had seemed taller at first, but Heero had realized that his black combat boots created such an illusion.

Trowa wrapped his arms gently around the boy.  He and Heero merely exchanged silent nods over the blond head.

"Hello Quatre," he said in his soft voice.  There was a happiness in the timbre of the voice though, a sort of ease.    Quatre backed up to let Duo in.  Duo grabbed Trowa's forearm in a deep handshake, but pulled the taller boy into a hug as well.  This embrace was a bit more formal though.

"Good to see you Trowa."

Now Trowa smiled.  "You too, Duo."  

They stood, looking at each other.  Trowa was taller.  He wore straight loose black cotton slacks and a body hugging long sleeved navy shirt.  The outline of his lean, powerful physique could clearly be seen underneath the thin lycra-cotton blend.  Most likely, that was the outfit he planned to work in.  Though he was no longer the scrawny kid they had met on Peacemillion, he looked no different than when they had seen him three years ago on earth at Christmas.

Quatre hadn't changed too much.  Though he had strayed from his accustomed button up shirts and khaki slacks to wearing a loose black turtleneck and faded jeans.  His blond hair was a tiny bit longer in the back so that it fell to the top of his back, but cut so that it shortened a bit over his ears, but draped down and framed his face in fringes that would often try to cover his eyes.  His green eyes stood out in colorful contrast to the pale face, though there was a pink tinge to his cheeks from all the excitement.  He also looked a little bit thinner than he used to be.  The baby fat that had fallen from his friends at an early age had plagued him even three years ago, but now it had disappeared to show a more slender, but muscular body.

Duo's form could not be scrutinized beneath his usual black attire.  He wore the same strange outfit he used to, though he had probably worn it for the mission since L2 was too hot for so much cloth and space travel was always chilly.   His braid was even longer now, reaching to the tops of his thighs.  A red zippered turtleneck peaked from beneath the black coat, setting off his hazel, sometimes-amethyst eyes.  The only thing new was an ugly little scar on his inner forearm, and part of a bigger tattoo peeking from beneath his rolled up sleeves on his upper arm.

Heero had grown a bit, but he was still the wiry muscular Japanese kid he always was.  He almost looked smaller than the rest of them due to the total lack of body fat on his frame, but he was indeed the same size.  He still had the uncontrollable mop of dark brown hair that lay about his head as if it didn't quite know what to do with itself.  He still wore the dirtied jeans and tank top he had went out in the night before.  There had been no time to change if he wanted to get to Preventor Headquarters on time.  He hadn't even brought a bag.  He figured he would withdraw some money in a few hours and get a change of clothes before the mission.

Finally, Lucretia Noin, Sally Po and Wufei Chang entered the room.  Sally and Noin smiled.  Wufei looked more serious, but there was a pleased look in his eyes as he counted all four of his comrades.

"Well.  It's been a long time since I've seen all five of you together," Noin said in an amused voice.

More noise erupted as people greeted each other.  Trowa stood quietly and answered whatever was asked of him, a barely noticeable smile on his face.  Duo grinned ear to ear as he clasped Wufei's hand heartily, already teasing him, by the slightly uncomfortable stance and the pink tinge in the raven-haired boy's cheeks.  He treated Noin and Sally to much the same treatment as Quatre had received, hugging them tight.  

Heero kept his place at the conference table, waiting to get down to the mission and not wanting to jostle his aching body too much already.  Quatre was talking to Noin and Wufei politely, though Heero noticed he was more reserved than expected when he and Noin had been such good friends before.   Heero wondered offhand if they had fallen out of touch or perhaps friendship for some reason, or perhaps, Quatre was wary of showing his usual wealth of emotion in front of Wufei.  The two boys had never quite gotten along and Quatre had always been particularly self-conscious in front of the impassioned Chinese boy.

Wufei had also grown a bit and was perhaps a slight bit taller than Quatre by the looks.  Heero put him at about 5'8" or so.  He still kept his long black hair pulled back in a harsh ponytail, which made his hawk-like gaze even more disconcerting.  Like Heero, his body was that of a martial artist's, and yet, his muscle was a bit bulkier than Heero's as if he spent more time lifting weights.

In a few minutes, what needed to be said had been and Sally walked to the back wall to turn on the media feed, popping a data cylinder into the slot below the screen.  People took their seats and Sally took the podium.

"I apologize that we are not here together for a more festive occasion, however, I am glad that we are here together again."   

Several heads nodded in agreement at this statement.  Sally looked to her papers.

"As you know, a contingent of the L5 alliance which used to support the White Fang have been found manufacturing weapons on a small resource satellite in the ruins of L2.  They have stayed well hidden, but we received an information leak from an anonymous source that was funding the project.  Though we were never able to track down the informant, we did send spies to confirm the report."

Une dimmed a light with one knob and clicked a remote to start the presentation.   The room went dark as the screen went from white to the black of space.  Shells and pieces of old destroyed colonies floated around each other in a silent metal graveyard, smaller pieces sticking to the larger like magnets.  The picture zoomed slowly in to show the well-camouflaged resource satellite as it floated like just another piece of garbage among the rest.    As it got closer, however, they could make out a few subtle lights flashing and finally a lone man in a suit outside repairing the outer hull.

"From the little intelligence we could glean without giving ourselves away, we know that it's called Helena 572.  It has 5 production decks and 3 for living quarters."  Une changed the picture to an inside still of the production decks.   It was clearly taken from inside a ship that was docked in the station.  Rows of 100-foot cannons were stacked neatly along the walls.  Une continued.  "What weapons we could distinguish consisted of standard outer hull beam rifles that were built for colony defense.  There are no mobile suits so far as we can tell, but there have been shipments of Doberguns, so we suspect they are at least building a small arsenal of Space Type Leos."

"As you can see by the photos, we were able to sneak one Preventor onto the satellite inside a ship that was delivering materials.  We still have an agent running this ship.  We can utilize it to get inside the base.  However, the ultimate goal is to infiltrate the base and take it over from within, without killing anyone."  This was typical.  The goal of the Preventors in maintaining total pacifism always meant a no death policy if at all possible.

The lights came back on and Noin passed data pads out to each pilot.  

"These contain the exact schematics of the base.  You can take a short break to review the layout and come up with some ideas."  Sally turned the screen off and turned a desk projector on instead that flashed to live and formed a transparent 3 dimensional map of the satellite above the conference table.  It revolved slowly so that all sides could see the entire structure.   

Quatre, who sat next to Heero, had already begun scribbling notes on his data pad as he looked carefully at the revolving map.  Duo got up to go fetch a drink, dragging Trowa with him and offering to get refreshments for the others. Wufei stood up and started toward Heero, but was redirected by Noin.  He looked at Heero and Quatre, with a little bit of urgency in his eyes, but acquiesced to accompany Noin to review some data.  They left and Quatre shot a meaningful glance at Heero.  He nodded back.

"Do you have a plan?"  Heero asked as soon as everybody was out of the room.  

Quatre nodded.  "I don't think it's wise to stow on board that ship,"  He said, a thoughtful wrinkle marring his pale brow.  "That photographer never even left the ship.  I'm sure security would be tight around the docking bays.  Even thought it's an easy in, it's probably the most well guarded."

Heero glanced at Quatre's data pad.  "You want to go in through the outer hull."

Quatre looked up.  "Access."  The conference table beeped at him.  "Zoom G-47 and freeze."

Almost immediately, one section of the satellite hung still in the air above them.  Quatre stood up and pointed to a small round access at the top of the station.  

"Deck C is our best bet," he said with a surety that dared opposition.  "The pictures we just saw were taken thirteen hours ago.  That man was outside of the bulkhead on deck C with a welding laser and a titanium sheet.  That can only mean that Deck C's pressure was compromised."

Heero agreed.  "And that means that it's empty," he added.

"Yes,"  Quatre conceded.  "We'll need to confirm it, but I'm sure that's it.  They would have had to evacuate it until the repair was done.  At the fastest, they would be able to fix it and test the structural integrity in 48 hours.  It would be stupid to go any faster than that.  Which means, we can get in and onto the storage deck in pressure suits."

"It sounds good in theory,"   Trowa said from behind them as he walked in with Duo.  "But how do we get from an abandoned deck onto the populated one when there's no pressurization room?"  They sat down.   Duo winked at Quatre and got a bright smile in return.

"Tro's right," Duo piped in.  "We only have two hours at most in the air tanks.  If we use a muted torch, it'll take an hour at least to cut through two feet of titanium.  But we'll set off alarms everywhere if we jack up the air pressure on the other side."  He leaned back in his chair nonchalantly, putting his hands behind his head as though bored.  "I suppose I could rig up a temporary airtight bubble that we could seal permanently against the metal.  But we would need the equipment and the air feed to let us pressurize the bubble long enough to cut a hole through the metal and get us in without bumping the sensors."

Trowa handed bottles of water to the other pilots.

"That's enough time if we cut into an empty area," the lanky brunette agreed.  "I've done something similar."  He took a sip of water.  "But not in a high security area.  Even a jump in the pressure will cause alarms to go off.

Quatre nodded.  The smiling boy he had been thirty minutes ago had been replaced by the soldier and tactician they had come to know so well at the end of the war.  

"That's true, Trowa," he acknowledged his friends concern.  "But the deck we'll be entering and the deck above will both be low security, since it's all living quarters.  The station is old enough that it won't have separate security feeds for each deck.  Heero can use Deck C's security access to turn off the pressure alarms on all decks, or at least reset the sensitivity."

"Hn," Heero agreed quietly.

Duo looked at the layout.  "So why aren't we just barging in through the front door?  With all five of us, there wouldn't be much problem getting past the guards, even if they are waiting."

"Yes."  The blond turned the schematic off and the lights came back up.  "But we don't want a big fight.  It will put more people at risk.  Besides, even though it's a resource satellite, I'm worried that with all the firepower they have, they have a means of self-destructing.   We can get from Deck D, down to the control deck and take the center out before they know what's happening.  Then we let the Preventors dock and take over from there."

After going over a few more details, the four ex pilots agreed.  When everyone had returned to the conference room, they laid out the plan outline.

"It's a good plan," Noin approved.  "If you have an idea for how the six of us will best take over the main deck, we just need to run it by the department for approval."

Wufei looked hard at Noin.   "You're coming with us?"

Noin looked exasperated.  "We are partners Wufei.  I know this is a special situation, but we're still working together."

Heero could tell that Wufei was bothered by the idea.  Beside him, Quatre murmured something angrily under his breath.  His speaking voice was much different though as he stood up.  "That's fine.   We'll be glad to have you."  He smiled.  Wufei sat back, resigned.  We'll need three teams once we enter the control center's upper deck.  Miss Noin, you and Duo should be the team to get into the computer and shut off the defense system to let the Preventor teams in.  Wufei and I will provide backup once we reach the control deck below. There should be a sniping team.  Heero and Trowa are the best choice to take out as many guards as they can from above.

"Sniping?"  Duo raised an eyebrow.  "I thought we weren't supposed to kill anyone."

Quatre smiled and Wufei stood, retrieving a small black case from the corner.

"We won't,"  He said calmly.

From the case, he pulled what appeared to be a regular hand-held rifle.  He opened it and displayed the empty chambers to Trowa.

"Confirm that the weapon is not loaded?"

Trowa nodded.  Wufei closed it and handed the gun to the taller boy to pass around.  He picked up a box and emptied what appeared to be two small round blue disks, about the size of a fingertip, attached together in the form of a figure eight.  Each disk had tiny barbs all around the edges.  Wufei held them up.

"This kind of non-lethal technology has been abandoned for a long time.  Since the beginning of the war."  He placed one of the small cartridges in front of each person at the table.  "Don't touch them yet."

Duo pulled his hand away reluctantly.  Wufei continued.

"These guns are based on taser technology.  When it was first created, the taser was designed to send a shock through the body, causing muscles to spasm.  It caused pain and loss of muscle control, so that law enforcement could incapacitate people without close contact fighting.  The drawbacks were that the current was harmful to anyone with heart conditions or pacemakers.  It could also cause the victim to lose bladder and sphincter control."

"They changed the technology so that the current was less, but rather than causing muscles to spasm, it now causes them to contract.  It is less painful, more effective, and leaves less of a mess."

A couple of people at the table smiled.  It was delivered dry, but Wufei had indeed sported a rare occasion of humor.  He seemed to be comfortable and in his element when teaching.  It stood to reason that he probably had to train recruits quite a bit in his position.

"As you can see, a disk this small is mostly battery and can only put out a small charge.  Five seconds, to be exact.  However, once the device hits its mark…"

Wufei picked up the screwdriver and tapped the barbs on the cartridge in front of Duo.  There was a crackle as the current discharged from one of the tiny disks and a small needle shot out of the center of the disk, the force of the spring causing the whole device to jump.  Almost immediately, a tiny drop of liquid ran down the side of the small hypodermic.  

"When shot, the disks separate, to hit the target in separate places to create an arc of electricity to deploy the charge effectively.  Each disk contains a small dose of general anesthetic derived from the Curare plant native to South America.  One hit is enough to knock someone out for about two hours depending on their size.  Two, more than doubles the effect, but is not lethal.  More than two doses can be lethal.  The charge itself is harmless."

He pulled a smaller hand-held gun out of the case and handed it to Heero, after spinning the chamber to show that it was empty.  They passed it around.  

"These will be given to all operatives.  Each handgun holds a ten-shot cartridge. Each rifle, twenty.  The cartridges are light, so we should have more than enough."

Wufei went through the rest of the basic weapon training on how to load it and disarm it.  While Sally ran the plan up for approval, Noin never left Wufei's side, to Quatre's chagrin.  He wandered up to Heero and Duo when they were out of the female Preventor's earshot.

"I need to talk to him," he whispered between his teeth.  "I planned this so that he and I would be able to work together, but I doubt they'll let that happen."

"What's up?"  Duo asked.  Quatre explained to him what he had earlier explained to Heero, adding the fact that Noin had not left the Shenlong pilot's side, and Wufei had showed no small amount of frustration at that.  Duo frowned.

"You have a point there, blondie."

"Right."  Quatre afforded Duo an insulted glare and exhaled in a huff but otherwise stuck to business.  "So if I can't get to him, one of you will have to.  Duo, can you tell Trowa?"

"Yeah.  We'll figure something out."

Heero stayed silent.

As Quatre had predicted, Sally returned with the orders that as partners, Wufei and Noin were to stick together.  She added that they were to be the ones to take the master controls while the others stood guard.  Quatre had no choice but to grudgingly agree to change the plan to conform to the Preventor's wishes.  He was not happy about it.

"But why would he be worried about Noin?"  Trowa asked after the final plans were laid out.

Duo shrugged.  Quatre said nothing.  Wufei had already left to gather the needed materials at Sally and Noin's request.  Trowa waited to see what was next.  Heero walked away down the hall.

"Hey Heero," Duo yelled.  "Where ya going?"

"To get some different clothes.  I'll be back."

Quatre watched him disappear around the corner.  He was limping harder than before which was one of the reasons Quatre had left Heero to snipe with Trowa.  Less movement was required.

"He's in bad shape," Trowa moved to stand beside them and watch the receding figure.

"Hmm," Quatre agreed.  "You've noticed.  Can you keep an eye on him Trowa?"

Trowa's brows furrowed.

"I'm sure he can handle himself."

"Oh."  Quatre sighed.  "You're probably right," he agreed, flustered.  "Never mind."        

"Hey Quatre," Duo said cheerily.  "I'll need some help with this thing I'm building.  "Wanna come along?"

Quatre looked at Duo, his spirits lifting.  "Yeah, sure."

They headed off down the hall to find Sally.  Trowa watched them go, perplexed.  He must have said something wrong again.  He could never tell with Quatre.  Only when they were out of sight, did he remember the book that he had brought for the blond.  He would have to wait for another opportunity.  

~~~~~~~~~

"I wonder what his problem is," Duo said as they worked in a cleared helicopter bay, building a portable pressure room.  It consisted of scavenged cryogenic cylindrical chamber, big enough for one person.  Duo was cutting the rubber to attach to the end.

"Who, Trowa?"  Quatre just shrugged as he used a hand laser to cut the hole for the pump.  "He's always been that way.  I'm not sure he knows any other way to be.  Especially when it comes to Heero.  They're different with each other than they are with us."

"But Trowa spent all that time taking care of him after he self destructed."

"That was much different.  Heero was almost dead.  Trowa was saving a good soldier, not helping a good friend.  Besides, Cathy took care of Heero.  Trowa just brought him home.  They still treat each other like comrade soldiers, rather than friends."

"Hmmm," Duo got up to stretch.  "Still, you'd think after four years, they would have learned something about friendship."

Quatre shook his head, smiling.  "You'd think."

"So then what's wrong with Heero?"

Quatre set the pump fitting down on the floor, reaching for the oil.  

"I think he tried to kill himself again," Quatre said as he worked on loosening the old part.

"Damn!"  Duo's eyes closed.  "So, did you feel it, like you did before?"

Quatre nodded, his hand going to his heart, unconsciously.  "It wasn't as bad as before."

"Yeah, well he's not very good at offing himself," Duo said grimly.  "Just coming close.  So how is he now?"

"Empty," the blond replied sadly.  "You know how he is.  You know how he was trained."

"I know."  Duo tucked a strand of hair behind his ear.  "So what's your plan?"

"First this," Quatre replied, shoving the tubing into the metal fitting.  "Then Wufei, then I'll have to convince Heero to come with me so I can find some way to help him."

"And if you can't?"

Quatre looked down, fear resting in his eyes.  "He's near indestructible… but eventually, he won't fail."  Quatre met Duo's eyes with anger and determination.  "I don't want our next meeting to be a funeral Duo.

Duo laughed grimly, meeting the striking green eyes of his best friend and winking.  "Then _we_ have no room for failure eh?"

Quatre met the Brunette's eyes, a look of thanks and wistfulness on his face.  He smiled, relieved to have some help.

"Thanks Duo."


	3. Strength Of Heart Arc - Chapter 2

Hullo!   Thanks everyone for the great great feedback.  I have to say a special thanks to Nanashi who seems to have been around since I started writing and always offers this great little voice of support.  It's like having a little supportive bird at my window all the time.   Thank you!  Diane, I agree with you that Duo doesn't have to be threatening to this pairing, because I frankly don't see any reason for Duo and Heero especially wanting to be together.  That just makes no sense. So you're absolutely right!  Besides, Hilde's pretty cute, so it's not like he's lonely.

Some small educational notes to you guys to address some stuff…  Tasers are used today in law enforcement, and they have actually been modified now to make muscles contract rather than spasm.  Everything I told you about the history is true.  However, the tasers today are deployed on these long thin curly wires that are attached to the blocks with barbs that catch on your skin or clothes.  They have to be pretty close range to even be used, but they do keep a lot of people from being hurt.     

Yes, Greenlady, Curare is actually a numbing poison that is used by the Amazon Indians to hunt their food.  They use blowdarts and it can be lethal although if you're ever poisoned by some odd chance, it is best to rub salt in the wound and eat a lot of salt, as it will absorb and nullify the poison.  I've never heard of the game you're talking about, but one of my favorite books as a kid was "Amazon Adventure" which was a "Hardy Boy" type book where this family went down the Amazon, collection animals for the zoo and wrestling anacondas and such.  ^_______^

Thanks for reading guys!  Hope you enjoy!

Strength of Heart ARC  -  Installment 1 

Chapter 2 - Overture

"Come in Helena, Helena, this is the "Red Dragon" freighter class C, requesting docking instructions."

Inside the small communications office, the lieutenant put his coffee down to answer the incoming call.  His crewmate was left to continue their chess game.  The early morning didn't bring that much traffic, so there wasn't much to do.

"We hear you Red Dragon.  Can we get your entry code?"

"L473545," the voice crackled over the comm. unit.

He checked the docket, taking another sip of coffee.

"Confirmed, please continue to docking platform 7."

"Roger."

The six Preventor agents watched quietly from the back of the freight ship as their spy flew them past the security blockade.  All were silent, awaiting the go ahead to start the mission. Minutes passed in complete silence with only the low, unsteady hum of the old freight engine to break it.  

Their pilot couldn't help but glance back once in a while to see Officer Chang's outsourced agents.  They all looked so young… just like Chang.  They had cold eyes.  Well, two of them did.  Chang, the blond and the braided kid looked a little more approachable, but the other two…  they hadn't even moved for three hours.  The shorter kid looked like he was sleeping, leaning against the wall.  The taller one with the green eyes just stared at the stars.  When they had boarded, they had simply nodded to him, their eyes, ice cold.

He had been surprised when he had first met officer Chang since there was a rumor that he was a Gundam pilot.  He had been somewhat disappointed to find that it was just a young man who had been working as a Narcotics officer for the police on L3.  Of course, there were so many rumors about the Gundam pilots.  They were dead.  They were alive.  They were boys.  They were women.  One of the popular rumors was that they were androids, pretending to be human.  Just rumors.   No one ever really knew who they were.  Himself? He highly doubted that they were even alive, let alone running around living their own little version of 'Blade Runner'.  If you asked him, they had all died, trying to destroy "Libra" and government just pulled out the Gundams during the Maremeia incident, to try and keep the peace.

He assumed these kids were probably from Mr. Chang's old narcotics team.  Not one of them looked to be much older than his eldest son and narcotics officers usually had to look young.  He wondered why they had been brought in for an infiltration of this nature. Of course, they might have just as easily busted drug rings on abandoned satellites, so maybe they were prepared for this kind of thing.  Narcs pretty much held the record on crazy busts, so they had to be versatile.

He pulled himself from his pondering as they neared the satellite.  Seven hundred feet and closing.  Six hundred. Five hundred.  He slowed the ship.  Four hundred.  He looked back.

"Okay, you're clear."

The short Japanese looking kid didn't even open his eyes as his hand flashed out and hit the control panel, causing the solid metal door to close them all away from view.  A few minutes later, the Preventor pilot saw them floating steadily toward the outer hull of the ship, hiding in a battered bit of ship debris that floated, seemingly randomly toward their destination.  He continued on his trip to the docking bay to await further orders once the takeover was complete.

A few minutes later, the Preventor pilot saw them floating steadily toward the outer hull of the ship, hiding in a battered bit of ship debris that floated, seemingly randomly, toward their destination.

Inside the satellite, crewmembers winced as more debris hit the ship, causing the metal around them to vibrate and hum ominously.  With no shields, it was no wonder they kept having air pressure leaks.  They turned their attention away as the inner claxons went off to signal another weapon delivery.  They all hurried to form the fire lines needed to unload the ship quickly and efficiently, the bangs and groans of the old vessel forgotten in their fervor to help maintain their nation's security.  They would not give their freedom again to the smiling trap of a promise of peace. Everyone had played that particular game far too often.

The two workers repairing the outer hull of the ship did not notice the six intruders until they felt their arms held and tiny needles jabbed into their arms through their space suits.  They only had enough time to voice their surprise at being attacked in the void of space before they fell into a drugged stupor.

Wufei placed small pieces of tape on the holes rent by the hypodermics as Quatre and Trowa held the limp forms.  Quickly, they pulled the two figures and Duo's makeshift pressure room inside the station's airlock and closed the hatch.

Inside, they placed the lifeless workmen in a corner.  They would be out for a few hours.  Heero checked the time on their air meters.  He held up all five fingers for Quatre to indicate how many hours of air the men had.  Plenty of time for them to complete their mission and retrieve the two hapless men before they suffocated.  Quatre nodded and Trowa and Heero headed silently for the security panel, laptop in tow to trick the air pressure sensors.  The other four Preventors headed the other way, lugging the bulky contraption with them. Wufei went ahead, manning the heat sensor to make sure they could find an unpopulated area to break in.

Fortunately, it looked like it wouldn't be hard. Most of the crew had gone to the docking bay.  They were able to find what the schematics labeled as a storage closet.  It was big enough anyway.  Carefully, they maneuvered Duo's bulky airlock into place.   The long cylinder would be too heavy in normal gravity, but it was manageable with the four of them.  The funnel-like opening kissed the metal on the ceiling as Duo welded it into place. He crawled inside and pulled the small hatch closed with his foot as he tested to make sure the seal was airtight.  The space was cramped, but everything seemed to be in order.  The hard part would be laser cutting the metal without setting his space suit on fire in such a tight space.

He crawled back out backwards to see Trowa and Heero approaching.  A quick thumbs up from Trowa and Quatre handed the laser device to Duo who crawled back inside the tight area, pulling the lock shut.  The rest waited silently outside.  Quatre stole a glance at Heero.  He could feel Heero's pain bearing down on the boy and he looked pale, but they all looked pale in this light.   Heero looked up at him and Quatre's eyes widened at being caught.  He looked away, but could feel the curiosity from his fellow pilot.  Fortunately, Duo came out to signal a job finished, saving them from more uncomfortable staring.

Quatre went first, knowing how to operate the machine since he had helped fashion it.  The others watched and followed, Duo bringing up the rear.  They had to go one at a time, closing the bottom hatch, working the pressure gage to match that of the room above and exiting through the top, closing the top hatch and banging on the floor where Duo held his hand, waiting for the vibration from above to send the next person through.

Once they were in, they were dismayed to find that the 'storage closet' had been furnished to second as living quarters since one deck was out of commission at the moment.   Quietly, one person watched the door while the rest pulled off their space suits.  They were dressed in street attire since this station required no uniforms, however, there were only about a thousand people onboard, so there was a chance they would be recognized as non-personnel.  They had toted their guns in a cardboard box, to keep hidden until they reached the upper deck of the control center.  Once there, they would all be in overdrive.

Quatre pushed toward the door panel and turned.

"Ready?" he whispered.  He received nods return and they made their way out into the hall.  The blond locked the door from the inside and stepped out.  They couldn't afford having the residents come back and find that the base had been compromised.

They were met with little suspicion, save a few people who gave them strange smiles as they tried to place their faces, nothing more.

Once they left the living quarters and entered the work decks, it was different.  

"Hey!  Do you guys have your IDs with you?"  An officer confronted them, friendly, but annoyed that they weren't wearing their ID tags around their necks. 

"Yeah, hold on."  Duo smiled, disarmingly, reaching into his jacket and shooting the man in the leg.  He let out a strangled scream as the current of electricity played havoc with his muscles and then sank to the ground.   The only other officer in the hall heard and ran over.

"Hey, what happened?"

"He's hurt," Trowa said, his voice tinged with concern.  The officer leaned over to examine his comrade.  A vice-like grip covered his mouth and he convulsed, his eyes sliding closed, as Noin submitted him to the same treatment as the other.

They quickly dumped the bodies in what appeared to be a chemical lab and burned the lock shut so no one would find them and sound the alarm.  The hall they were in soon opened up into the upper deck and they were met with no further obstacles there.  As with most of the decks, the crew seemed to be away, unloading the freighter still.   Only a skeleton crew remained, but Quatre could make out Bayati on the floor below, sitting at the conference table drinking tea and reviewing some kind of report.  There were about ten officers they could see, and certainly more under the deck they stood on.  The upper deck, which circled above the room, was lined with unmanned diagnostics stations.

The five knelt on the deck, out of sight.   Quatre positioned himself in front, his green eyes hard as he whispered out orders.

"Trowa, Heero, you start by taking out the guards closest to the center control station.  Noin, Wufei, Duo and I will wait five seconds and jump down.  Duo, you and I  are on the outside to take care of the officers that Heero and Trowa can't see."

"Right,"  Duo whispered in agreement.

Trowa pointed to a small stack of air tanks near the railing, high enough to hide behind.

"If we can start from there, we'll have some cover."

They slunk around outside of the deck to station themselves behind the tanks.  Trowa and Heero slid one to each side of the stack, guns held up in ready to start. They both looked at Quatre, who nodded.

"In three."

Three seconds later, the loud POP of the tasers echoed through the large room. Officers everywhere stared, frozen, as the men around them began to fall.  Finally, looking up, the still-conscious men could see four intruders descending on them, guns blasting. Quickly, the room was filled with the sound of real gunfire as the surprised rebels pulled themselves from the daze of an out-of-context situation and began returning fire.

Heero and Trowa worked as fast as they could to take out everyone on the deck, since their companions in freefall had no way of dodging bullets.  Quatre took a well-aimed shot at Bayati as he ran for the control center.  The Indian man too went limp as he attempted to pull the limp body of a soldier from off the control panel.  Quatre felt some degree of satisfaction at being able to take that shot at a man who had betrayed his family's trust.

Heero watched their comrades descend, waiting for them to reach the ground.  Once he was sure they had control down below, he turned to Trowa.

"We have to get Noin out of the picture for a few minutes for Quatre."  He motioned to the air tanks.  "I'll create the distraction."

Trowa raised an eyebrow, looked at the air tanks, then at Noin and quickly figured out what Heero was planning.

"I understand."  He dropped his gun, stood and waited, beside the pile.  Heero backed up a bit and threw his shoulder into the middle of the tanks, pushing them hard enough to cause a couple to start falling off the ledge.  The four below didn't even hear as they were still engaged in some remaining firefight.  With cat-like speed, Trowa leapt onto the railing and pushed himself forcefully down toward Noin.   Fortunately, her back was still turned as he landed softly; drawing back his gun, he brought it down hard on the pressure point on the corner of her neck.   Her eyes rolled into her head and she fell forward.  Wufei looked at Trowa perplexed.  Trowa ignored this and dragged Noin to a safer location behind the conference table.

"Now Quatre."

Quatre shot one last guard before grabbing Wufei and pulling him to the center control panel. Duo was picking off the last of the officers, while Heero had descended and made sure the door wouldn't open for any unexpected guests.

Wufei and Quatre pulled the bodies from the control panel.

"What's going on?"  Wufei asked, confused.

Quatre skimmed the panel, trying to make out the controls.

"Noin hasn't let you out of her sight the entire time we've been here and I know you wanted to tell us something."

Wufei's lips pursed into a smile.  "I see," he said, impressed.  The blond, he had always seen as weak and pathetic, never stopped surprising him.  He was obviously having trouble deciphering the Russian-built control panel.  Wufei pushed him out of the way and ran his fingers deftly over the controls.

"This should close every door in the ship," he said, somewhat smugly, smiling at Quatre.  

  The blond, in turn, blinked and brought his wrist communicator to his lips.

"This is Preventor Sand," he said, staring at Wufei as the worked the controls efficiently. "All doors are closed off.  We can begin the evacuation."

"Roger, Preventor.  This is Red Dragon.  The rest of the fleet is on the way.  Er, I didn't expect you on the line.  Is Preventor Fire with you?"

Quatre looked at Trowa, who nodded back, having examined the unconscious woman.

"She'll be okay in a few minutes.  She got hit by falling debris."

"Roger.  The fleet should arrive in about forty minutes."

"Sand out,"  the blond replied.  He looked at Wufei.  "We don't have much time.  Why did you call us all here?"

Wufei looked at them all as they approached the control center, waiting for his response.

"I can't be sure of everything, but there's something sour in the Preventor's department.   I've been cut off from information I have always had access to before.   Certain people have started acting strangely."

"Including Miss Noin," Quatre voiced quietly.  Wufei nodded in response.

"There are things happening within the organization that stink of old OZ tactics, but I can find nothing so far."

"That's just perfect," Duo said acidly.  "So what do you need us to do?"

"She's waking up," Trowa warned, walking back toward Noin.  

Wufei regarded them all.  "Just be careful,"  he warned.  "I don't know how Noin became part of this, but I doubt it's by choice.  I'll try to find out more and keep you informed.  But I can't risk becoming suspicious when I'm here full time."

Quatre broke in.  "It would be better if we hacked the system from the outside, to keep attention away from Wufei for now." 

"That would give me some space to do some prying of my own," Wufei agreed.

Heero's eyes narrowed.  "Where's Zechs in all of this?"

Noin moaned and started shaking her head.

Wufei lowered his voice.  "That's the other thing.  He's disappeared."  All of them stared in surprise at that.  Quatre was about to ask how, but they were out of time.

"What hit me?"  Noin said, blinking.  Trowa helped her to sit up.  

Heero approached her, eyes blank as usual. He could tell she was suspicious.  Her eyes darted toward Wufei.

"I got knocked into the air tanks," Heero said, his tone even.  "You've only been out for a few minutes."  

This seemed to console her a bit as her shoulders relaxed visibly. Wufei came over as well, kneeling down and checking her eyes.

"I've closed all the doors and the rest of the fleet is on the way.  I haven't pulled any files, since you were in charge of that," Wufei said with some amount of bitterness to his tone. "Do you feel up to it?"

Noin got up, still leaning on Trowa for support.

"It's just a bump," she said, smiling weakly and heading for the control center, the tall brunet staying with her since she didn't quite seem steady on her feet yet. 

Quatre turned to Heero and flashed him a bright smile.  "Thanks Heero," he whispered.

Heero nodded. Quatre could see that he was a little pale and drawn after all the action, but not too much worse for wear.   Quatre desperately hoped that the Japanese boy's fatigue would ease the effort Quatre would have to expend, convincing him to come home with him. Without even having to communicate, Duo, Quatre and Heero fanned out to check on the unconscious soldiers to make sure none were hurt too badly.  Though the weapons used to incapacitate them were harmless enough, it didn't erase the possibility of injury from falling.  Fortunately a lot of bruises, a couple of gashes and one broken bone was about all the damage any of the rebels had sustained. 

"Hey Heero," Duo called from across the room.  Heero looked over.  "As I recall, you have some experience setting broken bones.  Ever done it for someone else?"

Heero laughed under his breath, slightly amused.  Kneeling down, he used his good arm to pull the unconscious woman's lower leg back into alignment.  She winced in her sleep, but remained effectively doped down.  They lifted her and carried her to lie somewhere flat and out of the way.  Duo winced and put a hand on his lower ribs as they straightened and stepped away from her.

"You okay?"  Heero asked with his usual dry tone.

Duo grimaced.  "Yeah."  He straightened and grinned at Heero.  "One of the bullets had some luck getting through my armor.  It's not deep though."  

"You had better not tell Quatre,"  

"Why bother?" Duo chuckled.  "Quatre always knows regardless.  It's Wufei I'm worried about.  If they even catch wind of an injury, he's the one who gets to write the ten-page report on how it happened.  He'd never forgive me."

Duo walked away, leaving Heero amused but confused.  How would Quatre know regardless?   Of course the blond was overly sensitive to what people were feeling, so that must have been what Duo meant. He would maybe bring it up with the Deathscythe pilot later, as he was sure the boy was already cooking up where they would go for dinner tonight.

An alarm sounded and they looked up in surprise.   Noin was staring at the control panel in disbelief, her hand pulled back as if it had been bitten.  Wufei stormed over.

"What happened?"

Noin started typing furiously.

"Something I accessed must have set off the self-destruct mechanism!  It didn't even ask for a password.  But when I tried to open the file, it happened."

Wufei moved beside her, accessing the files on his own screen.

"The files are automatically deleting.  We'll have to try and save as much as we can before it wipes everything."

"Wufei, what's the countdown?"  Quatre asked, disturbed.

"Thirty minutes."  He continued to work on the data problem though, knowing that the blond would handle that part.  Quatre turned to the others.

"That's not enough time to evacuate the base.  We'll have to shut it down.  Duo, Trowa, and I can go. Heero, can you find the schematics and get us down there?  If we cancel the lockdown, we'll be swarmed and never make it.  You'll need to guide us and open each door as we get to it."

Heero shook his head.  "Duo can do that.  I should come with you."

Quatre glared and reached up, squeezing Heero's injured shoulder. The stoic boy's features showed nothing, but he paled as pain shot through his arm.

"You're not in condition to do that Heero."  The blond stood his ground as he felt a flash of intense anger shoot through the boy, glittering in his eyes visibly for a brief moment.   He released the injured arm, but held the stormy blue gaze.  "You'll only slow us down."

"Yeah, and though I appreciate your vote of confidence," Duo said sarcastically, "I can't work the system as fast or as well as you can."

Heero stared at them both and quietly went to one of the side desk consoles and began to type.

"When you exit, go down to level A and head for section B-5," he said, dropping his anger and focusing on the mission. There wasn't time and Quatre was right.

"Let's go."  The three left, reloading their guns and disappearing through the door.  Almost immediately there was the explosive sound of gunfire, but it was quickly silenced and Heero opened the next door in their way as Trowa, Duo and Quatre made their way down to the reactor core.

Quatre cursed as he ploughed into one of the larger men, bringing his taser up and drilling the soldier.   He used all his strength to hurl the unconscious form at one of his cohorts.  The man blocked the incoming body, throwing it to the side, but by the time he could recover, Quatre had shot him down.  He stormed to the next door watching as Trowa and Duo dispatched of their own assailants with relative ease.  Trowa had sent one woman flying over his head before spinning a well aimed back kick into another.  Once they were away, he put them out.  Duo was waiting for his target to stop firing from behind the bulkhead, before he ran and leapt over the three foot high barricade, kicking his assailant before landing a nasty leg pin on the man's neck.  He fired point blank at the man's leg, waiting until he twitched and went limp before disengaging.

"We're through Heero," he said into his communicator.  "What's next?"

The other two listened as Heero's voice crackled through.

"One more room before the lift, then you should be able to use access conduits for a while to avoid any more confrontations."

"Right."  Quatre waited for the next door to open, locking his gun on the first target he could see.  "If you want to die, by all means, keep us from shutting down the self-destruct."

These people were unarmed workers and only a few of them even looked like they wanted to try and fight.  Quatre walked through them, letting them part, his senses open for any sign of attack.  Trowa and Duo followed behind, covering the sides.  None of the workers wanted a fight.  The three boys stepped into the lift and headed down.

After the door shut, Duo stared at Quatre.

"Dude, you are pissed."

Quatre looked at Duo, a hard look in his eyes.

"She lied."

"Huh?"

Trowa raised an eyebrow.

Quatre reloaded his taser angrily.  "Noin knew what she was doing when she accessed the information."

Trowa looked skeptical.  "You think she was trying to kill these people?"

Quatre shook his head, furiously.  "I think she wanted to get rid of the data.  I don't think she knew that she would set off the self-destruct countdown."

"Or she knew we would be able to shut it down."

"Right."

"Damn.  What the hell is going on?" Duo said, flustered.  "Why would she do that?"

"I'm sure there's a good reason."  Trowa offered quietly.  Quatre nodded.

"She must have had orders to destroy the base without telling us, or even Wufei, what's going on, but why?"

"Quatre?  What do you feel about it?"  Duo asked sternly.  Trowa's watched with curiosity as Quatre's eyes clouded over.

"I'm not sure," he said, bowing his head.  By then the lift had reached Deck A and Quatre walked to open the door, Trowa and Duo setting up behind the lift wall, ready for another attack.  

"But whatever she's hiding, it doesn't feel malevolent."  He opened the door and they headed for the wiring conduits.

~~

Heero ran over the schematics, waiting for Quatre's next report.  He had been able to tap into their communicator signal and could now see them moving along each corridor as little flashing dots.  His Russian wasn't the best, but it was good enough for what he needed to do.  He was focused on the task at hand, but he couldn't help but wonder how Quatre knew about his condition.  Sure he looked like hell, but for all Quatre knew from appearances, he could have been in a bar room brawl.  He couldn't possibly know about the internal injuries.  Heero wasn't even limping, let alone showing the discomfort he felt.  This would take quite a while to heal… though he didn't plan on being around for that long.  

He had wanted to go on the more dangerous mission, only to increase his chances of death. It had not been logical, nor had it been smart.  Quatre had been right.  He would have been in the way.  Even if he took it lightly, he probably would barely make it through dinner tonight, let alone a mad dash through a ship of angry armed captives, which means he may have gone down by now.  Quatre's way was the more efficient way.  The mission was to take the base with zero deaths, Heero's included, and the mission always came first.

He looked down.

"Quatre, you're near the access panel.  It should take you up right under the reactor core."

"I see it."

The sound of muffled talking and metal against metal was audible through the console speaker.  Heero glanced up at Wufei and Noin. They were both burning data cylinders as fast as possible.   Wufei had cursed several times as data he was downloading simply self-deleted from beneath his fingers.  They had little time though.  In ten minutes, the safety margin would be gone and they would be forced to evacuate.  Quatre, Trowa and Duo would be trapped.

"Quatre, you have nine minutes," Heero warned.

"I know, I know," he replied, whispering, "but there are ten or more armed men in that room and most of them are right by the cover.  "They'll mow us down before we got the door open," he said, frustrated.

"How much of a distraction do you need?"

More muffled talking.

"About three seconds."  

Heero moved to the ops station.

"Roger.  I'm going to move the base, full throttle, for five seconds."  He said it loud enough to draw Noin and Wufei away from their work.  They both acknowledged and braced themselves.

On Quatre's end, Duo and Trowa nodded, Duo keeping one eye on the guards on the other side of the grate.  The power station was noisy enough that they couldn't be heard below the deck. It helped that the men were talking.  There was nowhere to take cover in the room above.  Even then, only one person could exit at a time, so whoever went first would take the brunt of the counter attack and have the most work cut out for them.  Five seconds would have to be enough. It would actually be more, since the power would have to be gathered before the base would actually move fast enough to throw anyone off balance.

"Acknowledged Heero.  We're ready."

Duo moved up the ladder to the grate, but Trowa grabbed him and shook his head, standing just below the grate. Duo backed off, trusting the quiet boy.

New and even more annoying alarms went off when the base began to draw more power than the core could take.  Most in the room above began to move toward the engine when the base heaved, throwing them to the floor.

Trowa used the butt end of his gun to knock the grate up and to the side as he used his powerful legs to jump straight up, shooting as he went.  This gave Duo ample time to exit as well, shooting anyone who was left.  Quatre followed and looked for stragglers on the outskirts of the room.   The low gravity made it diffictult for Trowa to get back down after jumping.  He had caught on to the ladder that ran up the metal column that held the source of the base's power while Duo and Quatre systematically searched the room for anyone else, their guns held at ready.  

Duo carefully approached a closed door to what looked to be some sort of closet.  Quatre had finished checking his side, and advanced on the door from the side, sliding silently along the wall.  They nodded at each other Duo trained his gun and reached over to quickly press the button that would open the door.

What came flying out was huge, heavy, and metal.Duo was able to block it in time, but it still drove into him, knocking him back.  A gun came up, from the darkness and Quatre dropped his own taser, kicking the gun up and lunged forward to grab it and push it further up, punching the body behind it, once, by touch, he had a sense of where the man's head was.  He was relatively large though, hence being able to throw something that heavy that hard in low gravity.  The punch didn't seem to do much good, so Quatre struck as hard as he could at the side of the man's neck, stunning him and twisted the arm he already had a hold of, shoving it up to lock the elbow and yanking hard, even as a punch barely missed his face, brushing the receding strands of his hair as he moved out of range.  The man screamed in pain, dropped his gun and followed the pain in his pinned arm, out into the light where Quatre pulled him.

Trowa, aka the cavalry, had since arrived and drilled a shot into the man at close range.  The man quickly succumbed to the anesthetic. What must have been close to seven feet of imposing soldier fell and hung in the low gravity, sinking slowly to the ground. Quatre released his arm before it broke from the strain, and turned to help Duo.  Trowa reported success to Heero in the meantime, success on reaching their destination.

The longhaired boy had hit the bars surrounding the center column in his backward trajectory and now sat, somewhat senseless against them.  One of his hands was pressed against his eyes and a steady stream of blood ran between his fingers.  The item thrown had been an old monitor.  It now sat in pieces to the side.  Quatre kneeled and pulled Duo's hand away.  A hefty cut in the center of his forehead had blood spewing into his eyes and down his nose.  

Duo grinned painfully, a small groan escaping his lips.  'Wufei is going to kill me for this one."  Quatre smiled and unzipped his jacket enough to pull out a handkerchief, handing it to the boy, who pressed it against his head.   At least he didn't have a concussion, though he was unsteady on his feet as the blond helped him up.

"Quatre, five minutes."

That meant five minutes before their safety margin was used up and fifteen minutes all together.   They split up and began to scan the various computer stations for the manual shut off.  Trowa found it first… a small screen with a pop up window with two boxes and the self-destruct countdown flashing at the bottom.  Apparently, someone else had tried to shut it down as well.

"Heero, I need a password."

Up in the control center, Heero started his search.  "Roger… what server are you on?"

"It's called Zaphod…  the program is labeled Syphon.  It looks like the last user name was Ojroopesh."

Heero's fingers flew across the keyboard.  "Acknowledged, Roopesh Ojha.  Hold on."

Trowa stood patiently at the screen while Quatre and Duo pulled off the faceplate underneath.  There was a tangle of wiring linked to a connection board underneath.  Duo sighed. 

"Typical IT.  Never label a damned thing."

He turned on his back and slid into the small space to look at the wiring above the board.  A loud curse came from under the desk.  Quatre kneeled back down.

"Duo, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he grunted.  "Our friends seem to have a large rat problem.  Can you find me some tools, and maybe a band-aid?"

Back in the control room, Wufei and Noin had stopped trying to back up the information they needed.  It was gone.  Wufei only hoped there was enough to glean some information as to who was backing the party.  He walked over to Heero, leaving Noin to nurse her headache and pack up the data cylinders.

"We lost about seventy percent of the information of the information we wanted.  It deleted itself.  It's still going."

"I know," Heero grated out roughly, still typing.

"Huh?  How?"  Wufei asked, confused.

Heero glared up at him.

"It's wiped out all the password files."

Trowa watched his watch and decided he had had enough waiting.  Duo was still cursing and fiddling with the wiring under the panel, but didn't seem to be making progress.  Quatre couldn't do much but hand Duo the tools he needed.  Trowa clicked on his communicator.

"Heero, we're past the safety line.  Any progress?"

The comm. unit crackled to life.

"I'm dealing with a minor setback with the password files."

Trowa's eyebrows rose.  "Huh?  What kind of setback?"

"There are no more password files."

More, unintelligible cursing came from Duo.  Apparently he had heard that.  

"That could be a problem," Trowa agreed.

"Ah… Duo."  Quatre said softly, leaning in so that his head was almost inside the little hatch.  "I think it's all up to you at this point."

"Yeah.  No pressure or anything."  He shot out, cringing as a wire sparked. "Could you hand me the cutters again?"

"There may still be a chance," Heero said, searching as quickly as he could. "I'm searching the old cached information.  Ojha has been a tech on board for five years.  Apparently most of the backup is untouched still."

Wufei was now meditating lightly against the wall, but he laughed.  "Let's just hope he didn't believe in changing passwords too much."

Heero didn't reply, continuing to watch the various searches as they combed through five years' worth of files.  The timer continued to flash alarmingly in the bottom corner of the screen.  They now had six minutes and thirty five seconds before the core overloaded and the whole base went.  Noin had already called the fleet to stay at safe distance.  She was now transferring the collected information to the Preventor databases, in case they failed.

As he waited for the files to surface, Heero's form of panicking was to calculate how much faster he could have this entire network running if he had been in charge.

Down in the reactor core, Quatre watched with some trepidation as the hum of the core began to gain in volume and pitch.  He found himself running up the statistics of survival.  Of course they would all die so close to the core, but Heero and Wufei might actually survive the initial impact.  Unless they were picked up within thirty seconds of total exposure to deep space though, they would just die later.  Of course the chance of being picked up by a chance spacecraft was close to nil.

"Aha!"  Duo's whoop broke him from his morbid reverie.  "I think I found it.  Quatre, hand me the electrical tape and the pliers."

The blond complied.  Trowa merely watched them, waiting for a word from Heero.  They now had two minutes and the core was starting to sound very sick, sending vibrations through the hull of the ship. The other passengers would probably be panicking now.   Trowa found himself regretting not having given that book to Quatre.  Even if he may never get to use it, Trowa had desired very much for Quatre to know that Trowa wanted to give it to him.  He wondered idly if he should tell Quatre that he had been meaning to give him a Jazz Piano book before they died. Maybe the blond would think he was crazy…

"Trowa, I have the file."  Heero's voice was tinged with urgency.

Trowa snapped around and pressed a button to bring the screen back up.

"Go ahead."

"Try "Enlightenment"."

Trowa typed it in.  The hourglass spun.

"No good."

"Quatre, I need some extra wire!"

"There isn't any."

"Never mind, I'll steal some from something else."

One minute and twenty-two seconds.

"Forty-two."

"That's not it."

"Some tape, Quatre… OW!"  More cursing.

One minute and eleven seconds.  The core was beginning to wine and pulse under their feet.

"Defenestrate"

"No."

"Just one more connection and I can trick it.  Hand me the pliers again."

"Nirvana"

Trowa's fingers fumbled on the keys and he had to backspace and type again.

"No."

Heero cursed and went through the list.  Ojha had different passwords for every goddamned system.  One caught his eye though and he almost smiled.  "Try this one."

"Quatre, cross your fingers," Duo said as he twisted the last wire together.

Fifty-five seconds.

"I don't want to die."

"What?"  Trowa asked, perplexed.

"The password."

"Oh."  He typed it in.  "Wait, one word, or a sentence?"

"Sentence."

"With the apostrophe or without?"

Forty-nine seconds.

"Without."

Trowa hit the return key.  A small gray window popped up with a message in Russian and two prompts below.  Trowa knew enough Russian to know "Yes" and "No" and hoped that the window was asking him nicely if he was sure he wanted to abort the self-destruct. He clicked yes.

"That should be it," Duo said.

Wufei, Noin, and Heero waited for confirmation.

The whine of the core suddenly began to drop in intensity.  Trowa laughed softly and watched the screen come up with a confirmation and the final count at point of abortion. 

Forty-two seconds.

"Confirmed," he said quietly into the communicator.

"I guess that did it," Duo said matter-of-factly.Quatre, who had placed his hand on Duo's knee in anticipation, now slumped, his head landing on Duo's stomach in relief.  Duo laughed and patted the blond head.

~~

"I think I should take the credit."

The three boys walked through the silent halls on the way back up to the control center, passing all the people who dozed in oblivion, not knowing how close to death they had been.

"You didn't rewire the controls before I entered the password."

"Guys, does it matter?"

"Trowa… My head is killing me, my ribs are killing me, I have laser burns and electrical burns and my hair smells like ratshit.  Not to mention the fact that Wufei will kill me for getting injured… could you give me a little of the credit?"

Trowa laughed softly.  "When you put it like that."

~~

The dinner that night was pleasant.  The five boys, Sally and Noin were there.  Noin quizzically explained Zechs' absence.   He had requested a month of leave, telling no one where he would be, not even her.  Technically, his vacation had not yet run out, but they were looking into his whereabouts anyway.  So far, nothing. Only a hard gaze from Wufei gave the former Gundam pilots any reason to suspect this wasn't quite the whole truth.

Most of the entertainment came from Duo and Quatre.  They played off each other pleasantly and even Heero smiled a few times.  Trowa was received a very affectionate hug for a Jazz Piano book.  He smiled softly the rest of the night.  Most of the evening was spent, catching up on what had been happening in the last three years.  On Sally's suggestion, they had decided on pizza in a quiet restaurant below Preventor headquarters.  With no time for reservations and not much energy or desire to do anything formal, it topped off the evening nicely.  A small local band played jazz and there was an outside patio so they sat outside in the cooler air.

Heero merely sat back and watched them.   Eventually, they fell into a somewhat heated discussion about mobile suit design, Duo taking the lead, having customized his Gundam more than anyone. Heero excused himself quietly and walked out into the night air.  As he exited the restaurant, he looked at the group one last time.  He didn't see the blond anywhere and he stiffened.

 "Heero."

He turned around.  Quatre moved out from beneath the awning and approached him.

"Please don't leave."  He smiled.  "You never gave me an answer."

"Answer to what?"  

"I asked you to come back with me after this remember?"

Memory sparked in the deep blue eyes but he shook his head.  "I don't really have the time right now, Quatre," he said kindly.  "Why don't you ask Trowa… or Duo?"

Quatre smiled.  "Because I'm asking you.  Hilde has Duo on a short leash and Trowa has to perform. You're not guarding Relena anymore, so I thought you could help me break into the Preventor files."

Quatre felt a spike of pain from Heero at hearing Miss Relena's name.  He kept his sunny demeanor though. He filed that information away for later.

"You were always better at hacking than any of us.  I could really use the help. Besides it would be nice to have an old friend around for a while.  I would appreciate the company.  Please Heero?"

Quatre's smile and his wide, questioning green eyes almost had Heero relenting.  But Relena's name struck his chest like a cold iron spike and he shook his head.  He had tried to go on after the war.  He was so tired.  Going on was a never-ending chore.  He was ready to end it.  It was time.  This time, he would do it right.  He would kill one more time and it would be over.  He would finally get to rest.

"I can't," he said.  "I'm sure you can handle it."  He half-smiled and put a hand on Quatre's shoulder. "Take care of yourself." He started to walk away.

"So that's it.  You're just going to disappear again."

He turned and gazed at the blond evenly.  Why wouldn't he let this go?

"I have things I need to do Quatre."

"Like what, Heero?  Find a bigger cliff?"  Quatre's voice was rising with anger. Heero's eyes widened.  Duo was right - he did know.  Heero had always thought Quatre to be uncanny in his ability to see through people, but had never suspected him to have newtype abilities. It was inconsequential, though.  Heero turned.

"This isn't any of your concern Quatre."

"A friend in trouble isn't any of my concern?  That's rich Yuy.  Is that part of your perfect soldier 'code'?"

Heero whirled on him and advanced calmly.  "Don't call me that."

Quatre stood his ground, though the intense anger he felt from the other man was making his own hands shake.  He didn't move though.

"Then stop acting like it," he snapped coldly.  Heero froze.

"What?" he said, the bile rising in him.  Quatre gazed at him, his eyes hard and unforgiving.

"You and I both know that part of this desire for self-destruction comes from your training.  Don't even try to deny it.  Your goal has always been finding a battle sufficient enough to bring your own death.  If there's no 'mission' there's no Heero Yuy, because some bastard in a lab told you that's all you're good for."

Quatre took a step forward, closing the gap between them completely.

"That's the soldier in you, not the man.  Not the man I call friend. Not the boy who kept me from doing just what you want to do four years ago. If you're not the perfect soldier, then why are you doing this?  Because whatever this is really about Heero, underneath, you're still following orders."

"You don't understand."

"Do I need to Heero?"  Quatre asked coldly.  "One of my friends wants to kill himself and I would miss him if he was gone.  What do I need to understand?  That you feel like there's nothing left just because Relena isn't obsessed with you anymore?"

Quatre was grabbed bodily and shoved against a wall before he could get anything more out.

"Then maybe the man you think you know is gone," he hissed, shoving the other boy against the wall again.  "Because you know nothing about the one in front of you," he bit out.

They were so close their breath intermingled.  They stared at each other from across a distance of a few inches, both angry.  Quatre let out a breath.

"Then show me."  Quatre reached up and pulled Heero's hands off of his arms with relative ease and strength.  "I want to understand Heero."

Heero shoved the boy up against the wall and backed away.  "It's too late for that.  Goodbye Quatre."

He started to walk away.  For a second, he wasn't followed and he almost wanted Quatre to.  But he heard nothing and so he continued to walk down the block.  Suddenly though, he heard the quickened sound of shoes on concrete.

"Please." Quatre's voice was shaking now, not with anger, but misery.  Heero couldn't ignore that. He stopped.

"Please don't leave us. Don't leave me Heero.  I…  I need you."

Once more, he walked back to the blond. "What?"

Quatre bowed his head.  His hands were trembling.

"I'm going to need you Heero.  I can't do this without you."  He whispered the last sentence.

"Do what?"  He stared intently at the boy, but Quatre wouldn't meet his eyes.  

Quatre's hands clasped and he stared down at them.

"I… there's something I have to do," he whispered.   "It's more than just finding out what's happening within the Preventor's organization.  I need your help with that too.  But soon, I'll have to do something else… and I can't do it alone."

"What is it?  Quatre?"  Heero finally grabbed the other man's arm.  

Quatre looked up at him miserably.  "I can't tell you now, but I will.  Soon.  Heero, please come with me.  I need you here for this.  I need all the pilots, but you most of all.  I need to make sure that you'll be around when the time comes.  Just come to Egypt with me."

"Hey."  

They both looked up.  Duo had stepped out.  He was walking down the sidewalk toward them, looking at them suspiciously. 

"Is everything all right?  You guys have been gone for a while."

They didn't reply, merely staring at each other.  Duo huffed. 

"Heero," Duo said.  The Japanese man finally looked at him, his arm not leaving Quatre's.  "The correct answer is yes, Quatre, I'll come with you, and then we go back in, pretend nothing happened and have some dessert.  Besides, I would feel much better knowing you're in Africa with Quatre, rather than bashing your brains out on the side of the mountain somewhere."

Heero's eyes narrowed and he glared at Quatre.  "Does everyone know about this?"

Quatre shook his head.  "Just Duo."

Heero continued to stare at the blond and Quatre couldn't continue to meet his eyes.  He looked away.  Heero dropped his arm.

"We'll talk.  Later."

Quatre looked back up at him, but he was already walking back in.  Duo winked at the hopeful blond and put an arm around his shoulders, guiding him in as well.

"Tell me blondie.  Tell me I don't have good timing!"  Quatre looked at the braided clown, amazed, because it was true.  Quatre laughed and lovingly rested his head briefly on Duo's shoulder before they wandered back inside.   The aftersurge of adrenaline hit him now harder then it had when they stopped the self-destruct countdown earlier that day.


	4. Strength Of Heart Arc - Chapter 3

Strength of Heart ARC

Chapter 3  - Beyond that Road

Heero boarded the shuttlecraft sullenly, in front of Quatre.   He felt a little like a bad dog the way he was being treated.  The blond hadn't let him out of his sight since dinner last night, to the point of insisting that he take a room in the same hotel.  The Japanese boy could easily have gotten away, but he wasn't keen on deliberately deceiving the blond.  Something else had held him back though. 

Last night had been very strange.  When Quatre had pleaded with Heero to stay, he had sounded odd, like he wasn't himself.  Quatre had sounded like he was on the damn Zero system again… almost, and it had very nearly sent chills down the Wing pilot's back.  There had been a hollow, removed timbre to the blonde's voice when he said it, like it wasn't his own idea.  He had pulled the last bit of their conversation as a trump card, to convince Heero that he needed to stick around, and it had worked.  However, the brunette had an ominous feeling that this was bigger than just a traitor in the Preventors or finding a missing person.  He wondered if the boy was in trouble, but if he would need all the other pilots as he said, how much trouble had he gotten himself into?  What was it that Quatre thought he had to do?

They sat down in silence, waiting for the shuttle to take off and buckling their seatbelts. Quatre was silent as he stared out the window.  He was pensive.  In his desperation to keep Heero from killing himself, he had let information go that he should have kept to himself… at least for a little while longer.  But he had panicked.  He could feel Heero giving up; could feel him slipping away.  He would not let that happen. It scared the hell out of him, most importantly because Heero was a dear friend… but also because Quatre honestly didn't know if he would survive himself if Heero ever succeeded.  He still should have found another way though.  Now Heero would be suspicious, and it wasn't time yet to tell any of them what was going on.

"Stop doing that."

"Huh?"  Quatre looked up from the window.  Heero's seat was reclined and he looked almost asleep, but he had obviously spoken. The shuttlecraft lurched forward and began to build speed.  

Heero didn't open his eyes.  "Stop punishing yourself.  I won't ask if you don't want me to."

Quatre shook his head. "Heero, I don't..."

Heero finally fixed him with an intense stare that froze the blond to the spot.  "Quatre, tell me when you're ready.  I won't go anywhere."  He then closed his eyes, his breathing evening out rather quickly.  Quatre just stared.  

"Heero?"  The dark haired boy didn't move.  "Heero?"  Nothing. He was asleep.  Most likely, he really needed it.  Quatre watched the peaceful features of his sleeping companion for a minute more before he smiled a bit and sighed in relief as he turned back to stare out the window.  

~~

"Wufei," Noin peeked her head in to see the Chinese Preventor writing, a look of controlled misery on his face.  She smiled.  He hated paperwork.  "You busy?"

Wufei sighed in irritation "What does it look like?"  

She laughed, then sobered.  She approached him, a slight look of guilt on her face.

"Wufei."  He looked up, annoyed.  She pushed forward.

"Une wants to see us."

Wufei nodded and gathered what he had of his report, following her out into the hall and toward the elevator.

"Wufei, I know I've been acting kind of strange lately." 

He looked up, a hit of disbelief coloring his features.  His incredulity quickly turned to mild anger though as they entered the elevator.

"Kind of?  I've been kept in the dark for weeks now.  Zechs has disappeared, and don't tell me he's just on vacation," he said, seeing her impending look of contradiction.  "I doubt I would have known about that satellite if one of my own team hadn't taken the pictures.  It was like pulling teeth to get anything done about it.  What the hell has been going on?"  he said, his anger finally surfacing.  He was also relieved.  At least something was finally being communicated to him.

Noin just waited for him to finish ranting.

 "There have been some changes in the department."  She had the man's full attention now.  "I wanted to tell you, but I was told to wait."  

Wufei stopped the elevator for a moment and raised an eyebrow at this.  "By whom?  Une?"

Noin nodded.  "The movement for peace has taken a new direction now.  We want to take an even harder stance on total pacifism.  Some of the organizations providing our initial funding have been adamant on changing the structure."

"So?"

"So," Noin continued, "we're doing some reorganization, which you're an important part of.  Une wants to see us so we can bring you in on what's going on."

Wufei studied her suspiciously.  

"Why? Why now?  Why wasn't I brought in before this?"

Noin sighed.  "It's not that we didn't want you to know.  We just weren't sure where your… loyalties lie."

Wufei stared at her coldly.  "My loyalties are completely with keeping the peace," he said steadily.  "If this is about what happened with Mare Meia's army, I…"

"Wufei, I know what happened."  Noin rolled her eyes.  "But the commissioner wanted Une to take all precautions necessary.  It just took longer to get you approved for this."

Wufei let the elevator continue up to the top floor.

"Is this why the other Gundam Pilots weren't allowed full access as well?"

Noin nodded.  "It's imperative that we make sure that everyone involved is loyal to our cause."

Wufei frowned.  It reeked of OZ propaganda.  The 'we need to keep knowledge from the people for their own good' attitude that was suddenly creeping through this organization like a bad weed that can be cut down, but never goes away.  They stepped off the elevator.  Wufei sighed in frustration.  Maybe the other pilots could get some information that he couldn't.  For now, he would listen to what they had to say, but what he had said was true.  He was loyal to peace, but he would not stay loyal to the Preventors if he saw any movement toward ruling over the people and controlling them, rather than governing them.

Noin saw Wufei's frustration coming out in the fine lines that gathered on his forehead and the tight hold of his jaw.  She smiled.  She had hated keeping everything from him for so long, but now, Une and the board had made a decision and approved Wufei.  Finally, they could stop the lying and the secrets.  She had a feeling that once Wufei was apprised of the situation, he would be able to convince the board to let the other Gundam pilots in as well.  They had been such a good team before.  They were the best bet at insuring total pacifism.

They reached Une's office and Wufei held the door open for Noin, following after.  Une was sitting at her large cherry wood desk, her hair pulled back in a loose bun while she talked quietly to two people sitting in the chairs across from her.  The man and the woman's backs were to the door.  She looked up and smiled, standing.  

"Congratulations on your last assignment, Wufei.  You all did an excellent job," she said.  The other people in the room stood and turned as well.

Wufei stopped, confused.  "You," he said. 

The blonde girl smiled.  "It's good to see you again, Chang Wufei." 

He simply stared, confused.  "You're part of this reorganization?"

Une smiled.  "Wufei, I assure you everything will become quite clear.  Noin."  

The raven-haired boy turned, to find himself staring at the wrong end of a charged taser held by Noin.  Her smile was gone, replaced by determination as she fired.  There wasn't enough time to dodge and the barbs hit his arm and bit in.  Almost immediately, he seized up and hit the ground hard.  He felt the prick of the needle and the stinging numbness of the drug seeping through his body.  His ears roared and everything slipped away.  His last vision was of the man's black boots approaching.  Noin's fuzzy voice came from somewhere far away.

"I'm sorry, Wufei.  You'll understand everything soon, I promise."

~~

After landing in Cairo, Quatre and Heero transferred to a smaller private jet.  No one was on board.  Quatre stowed their luggage and took the controls himself.  Heero took the copilot's seat, even though Quatre tried to insist he rest in the back.  However, he did grab the first aid kit to disinfect some of the open scrapes that were becoming infected.  

Quatre took off with infallible precision, gliding easily above the clouds before setting the automatic course controls and going back to get something to drink.  He returned with something for Heero as well.  They sat in content silence for a while, watching the clouds pass lazily below.  Heero was finally the one to break the silence.

"Can you feel my pain right now?"

Quatre looked up, a sad sort of wisdom in the depths of his eyes.  "Yes."

"What do you feel?"

Quatre sighed, laying back a bit in the chair and closed his eyes, concentrating.  Heero watched him intently, feeling his own aches and pains a little more now that he was thinking about them.  Quatre's left hand went first to his ribs. 

"You have at least one broken rib."  His hand moved slowly across his chest and up to his shoulder. "And you ripped something in here, probably dislocated a shoulder."  He opened his eyes now and looked at the brunette.  "You have a stiff neck from sleeping on the shuttle and I think you did something to your right leg.  I only feel what you feel, so I can't feel any of the cuts or bruises you got when you crashed." 

"And you knew when Duo bruised his ribs."  Heero added, impressed.  He had hit most of the worst injuries.

Quatre nodded.

"Can you feel anyone's pain?"  

Another nod.  "If they're close, or if the pain is intense," he confirmed.

Heero stared at the blond.  "So every time you killed someone…"

Quatre's eyes widened and he stared at the sudden comprehension in the deep blue eyes.

"Um… no."  Quatre amended.  "I mean… I learned to block a lot of it out.  As long as I was in a mobile suit, I wasn't close enough to feel much.  But sometimes, yes."  

Heero could tell that Quatre was trying to backpedal, not wanting any sympathy.  Typical Quatre.  He never wanted anyone to worry about him.  It made sense that Quatre couldn't feel deaths from that far away.  Something that repetitive and intrusive into the mind would drive someone crazy. Still, the blond had killed at close quarters.  They all had.  So even if he didn't feel it all the time, he knew what it felt like.  He knew what it felt like to die.  Suddenly, it made quite a lot of sense as to why he always gave people a chance to surrender

"Why didn't you tell us you were a newtype?"  Heero asked, his voice low.  Quatre smiled subtly.

"We're all newtypes," he replied.  "At least, we're all genetically engineered."  He looked meaningfully at Heero.  He knew that the Japanese soldier probably hadn't known this.  Dr. J had always treated Heero like an experiment, some sort of vessel for training, but not like a person, not like a normal human being who deserved to know the truth.  

"Instructor H sent me a bank key two months ago, along with an interesting data cell," Quatre said.  "I'll show it to you when we get home.  It's an old journal of his about us, among other things."  

This was a development.  As far as Heero knew, the scientists had all but disappeared.  Duo had even suspected them dead.  No one had heard anything from them in years.   

"Why now?"  Heero asked, drawing a shake of the blonde's head and a perplexed look.

"I don't know.  It was just a collection of scattered journal entries about us. No note, no request, command or otherwise. Just information. " Quatre said.  "He did tell me once that if he ever died, there were things he needed to tell me.  I always thought it was a strange thing to say, but that's how he was."

"That's how they all were."  Heero agreed.  "I don't know about Trowa, Duo or Wufei, but I haven't gotten anything from Dr. J."

Quatre shook his head.  " Neither have I, but it doesn't surprise you that we were created."

This didn't surprise Quatre.  The Wing pilot was always silently observant.  They all were, he supposed, but Heero had an uncanny way of knowing what was going on and where to be, before any of them figured it out.  So it wasn't entirely enlightening to know that Heero was a step ahead of him on this information as well, barring the information Quatre had been fortunate enough to receive.

"I knew that I was a gelf, but I had no evidence of any of you being more than enhanced for Mobile Suit operation.  However, It didn't escape me that we were all born within months of each other, and that we have no parents, except you." 

The blond winced.  It was barely perceptible, but a slight downturn of the eyes didn't escape Heero's notice.

"Yes.  I had parents," said Quatre. He smiled gently. "But I was created in a test tube, like the rest of you probably were.  The Winner family never did very well with natural childbearing, once we left earth.  My grandfather funded quite a bit of Operation Meteor, to my father's dismay," Quatre said acidly. "Either he wanted his investment to be kept close, or he wanted our family to have some part in Heero Yuy's revenge directly."

"Operation Meteor."  Heero supplied.

"Right.  But they didn't just want superior Gundams.  They wanted superior pilots.  It wasn't enough that they train the best pilots they could.  The colonies wanted complete superiority.  What's strange though, is that you were the only one who was kept in one of the original OM factions.  The rest of us were scattered into the colonies."  

Heero's eyes narrowed.  "Dr. J always thought that was a mistake."

Anger flashed in the blonde's eyes.  "That's because Dr. J never cared what happened to us after the war ended."

Heero's gaze was steady, but Quatre could sense a hint of regret.  "No, he didn't."    

Quatre looked at Heero earnestly.  "Which is why they conditioned you to end your life if you weren't needed."

A look of assertion was all Quatre received from that statement.

"Heero, why did you…" His question was halted when the comm panel at the front of the jet started beeping.   Quatre exhaled in frustration and looked at Heero in apology as he answered.  

"Yes?"  The voice couldn't be heard since Quatre was on his headset, but the screen showed Rashid's weathered face.  

"Rashid, how are you?  Yes, everything went well."  

Heero pushed himself out of the chair and escaped to the back compartment, leaving Quatre to his conversation.  The blond tried to catch his hand, but it was too late.  He sighed turning back.

Heero grabbed another drink from the small refrigerator in the back and flopped onto one of the leather couches that lined the side of the plane.  He took a drink and stared out the window at the blaring blue of the sky. He could hear Quatre's end of the conversation.

"What?  He what?"  The blond sounded a little angry.  "And what right does he have to… Okay," the blond sighed.  "We'll be in shortly… yes, Heero's with me.  Yes."

There was silence for a minute and then Quatre spoke again.

"It doesn't change anything about tonight.  He needs to rest first… yes, but not yet.  Ok.  We'll be there a few minutes early actually.  Thank you, Rashid."

Heero filed away the fact that something was 'happening' tonight while he 'rested' and determined to find out what if he could.  He quickly closed his eyes and smoothed out his breathing as he heard Quatre get out of his seat.  He could hear the blond step into the cabin.

"I'm sorry, I… Heero?"

"Heero?" His voice was softer now.

Quatre sighed and returned to the controls.  

Heero half wanted to continue their conversation, but he wasn't ready to discuss his recent suicide attempt, since the Wing pilot felt a bit confused as to why he had tried it.  It had seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but Quatre kept pressing his training and he wondered if that was really what drove it and not Relena's betrayal…  he stared up at the curved ceiling of the cabin.  He already had more questions than he knew what to do with.   

~~

Millions of miles away, in a shabby little house on L2, Duo Maxwell stared hard at the cracks in his table, trying to understand what God had against him.

"Colon cancer?"  He repeated dully. 

Hilde watched, sadly as Duo picked at his nails, looking down.  The man across from him just chuckled dryly, as if this only lightly affected him.

"That's what the doc said."  Howard replied with a soft kind of accepting cheer.  "I don't know if I believe him. I don't put much weight into what doctors say.  Half the time, they don't know what they're talking about anyway.  I thought I should tell you though.  I've put you in my will and…"

"I don't want it."  Duo snarled angrily.  "Give it to the poor.  Give it to the orphanage.  I don't want it." He got up and walked to the only window in the kitchen, looking out at the desolate, almost empty neighborhood.

Howard laughed.  "I don't think anything I leave behind would be any good for the poor.  You think I should give them my old beat up surfboard?"

Duo hit the window, nearly breaking through the thick pane.  "Why did this have to happen? Why does this always happen?"  He grated out, through clenched teeth.

Hilde came up behind him and held him as tight as she could around his waist.

"Baby, this isn't your fault."

"Aww."  Howard got up and went to Duo too.  "Duo, you don't _really_ think that do you?"

"No," the braided boy answered in a whisper, but no one in the room was convinced he believed it, including himself.

"Duo!" Howard put a hand on the boy's shoulder.  "Billions of people are alive because of you."  He laughed.  "I'm old, not ancient, mind you but I'm getting on in years kid!  And… I think of you like a son."  Howard choked out.  "Shit, we've been together for a good long time.  And it's not like I'm going to die tomorrow."  

Duo nodded and turned, embracing the older man crushingly.  Tears leaked freely from his eyes and soaked into the brightly colored cloth of Howard's shirt.  

"I'm sorry."  Duo grated out, and he didn't know if he was apologizing for being selfish, or for somehow cosmically causing the destruction of yet another loved one.  He just held the man tighter in his arms.

~~

The gentle jolt of the landing gear hitting asphalt woke Heero from an uncomfortable, hot sleep.  The plane was air conditioned, but the desert sun had been beating into the windows for a few hours now.  Heero got up groggily and poured his unfinished drink into the small sink.  He looked outside to see them rolling into the hanger of a large homestead.  He was glad he didn't have to deal with another airport.  Now that he had gotten some sleep, fatigue was hitting him even harder and he looked forward to one of Quatre's quiet rooms to get some rest before dealing with anything else.  

The plane came to a halt and Heero watched from the window as Quatre walked out to meet the fourteen Maguanacs who absolutely had to see how he was doing.  Heero laughed.  Fourteen wasn't very many when it came to coddling the teen.  Quatre stood good-naturedly and reported his condition like a good boy, smiling brightly the whole time.  When they were satisfied, they walked back to the house, but Rashid stayed, handing the blond a bundle and talking to him seriously.  Quatre suddenly looked very angry as he spoke with the big man.  He seemed to say something with finality, his eyes still flashing with fury.  Rashid nodded and walked away.  Heero waited for Quatre to come back in.  The plane was already warming now that the engine was off.

Quatre smiled tiredly as he came back.  He handed Heero the clothes Rashid had brought, which consisted of loose white cotton pants, a white tank top and sandals.

"I apologize, Heero.  I have to attend a meeting right now apparently," he said reluctantly.   "I can show you to your room and then I'll meet you later and we can have an early dinner?" The blond half asked, half stated.

Heero nodded, glad that he would get some more time to rest and recover before having to face Quatre again.  The blond looked like he shared that sentiment as he grumpily grabbed his small bag and led Heero out.  The heat hit them both in a wave, as if they had stepped into an oven as the sun beat down on the pavement and bounced back at them.  Quatre guided them quickly into the cool relief of the house.  It was actually quite small for someone as wealthy as Quatre, but still a small mansion.  Quatre pointed out the indoor pool on the way up the stairs to the bedrooms.  Heero's bedroom was simple but pleasant, with elegant French doors that led out onto a small balcony, furnished with a table, chairs and a hammock.  The room itself held a small bed, with mosquito netting around it.  There was a dresser and a wall panel complete with a package media setup and communications panel.

Quatre bowed politely at the door.  

"Please make yourself at home," he requested, reaching for the doorknob.  "This shouldn't take too long, but you want to sleep.  If you need anything, the house isn't that big.  Just press the call button and someone can tell you where I am."  Once again, the blond smiled apologetically and backed out, closing the door with him.

Heero waited until he walked away, before folding his clothes on the dresser and flipping on the TV.  He was slightly disconcerted now that he knew Quatre could feel what he felt.  It made sense that the blond didn't tell anyone unless it was necessary.  He couldn't imagine Quatre wanting people to feel ill at ease around him all the time.

He lay back on the bed, too hot, even in the cool room to need covering.  On the TV, a newscast came on, covering another successful peace conference and the fourth nation to sign a permanent treaty to ban all weapons.  Inevitably, the smiling, almost regal face of Relena Peacecraft appeared on the screen as she made her way out of the crowded auditorium.  Heero caught a glimpse of her personal secretary and ached as the blond man watched her intently.  He had changed a bit from the boy who first challenged Heero to a duel four years ago.  He could see why Relena would be attracted to him now. Tall, outgoing and full of life, the man stood at about six feet, with broad shoulders and a friendly presence.

Heero beat the bed ineffectually, cursing himself for the thousandth time, for waiting, for being so afraid.  He had watched her for three years.  Why couldn't he have just done something?  But he couldn't even bring himself to ask her out on a real date. He had planned it, had every detail planned, all the way down to what kind of flowers he would get and what car he would rent to pick her up. He had meticulously added detail by detail to that plan for three years, all the while, watching her, protecting her.  He hadn't expected her to go away after all.  She hadn't for three years.  Then one day, she had a different look in her eye.  It was the look she had now as she and her boyfriend stepped into the car.

Even then, he hadn't understood.  Then one day, as she finished a speech and looked up into the balcony, seeing him, she had looked down, guilt apparent in her very stature.  She was no longer his, even from afar.

~~

"So you see, Mr. Winner, I think that the proposal has some validity within the current market.  Miss Sahim doesn't necessarily agree, but I though I should bring it up with you."

The President of Finance at WE and his secretary were seated in the small conference room just off the main hall of the house.  The secretary ran the presentation on the video screen while the suited American droned on about some pharmaceutical company in Colony cluster 6 that was patenting a new drug, and while Winner Enterprises usually didn't usually invest in untested drugs, could he please consider it this once.  Quatre stared out the window, but Rashid paid mild attention.

The American man stopped and looked over to see the teenager staring out the window.  His brow furrowed, and his secretary looked at the tall man, mutual annoyance in her eyes.  The kid wasn't even paying attention.  He looked like he was watching the camels trot around and separate as a dust devil rose up in the corral.

"Mr. Winner?" The blond looked over, startled.  

"Huh?  I'm sorry."  He smiled.  "What were you saying?"

The man cleared his throat.  "I think that with your approval, we could move on this deal quite quickly.  The stock is cheap now, but it would quickly rise."

Quatre picked some lint off his purple dress shirt before looking at the man again.  "What stock was this now?"

The man finally snapped at the arrogant kid's blasé attitude.  He had been dealing with it now for four hours and he was about sick of it.

"Mr. Winner, have you been listening to anything we've said?"

Quatre's eyes hardened and he stood.

"No, Mr. Clancy, I have not."  He advanced on the man and though he stood a good five inches shorter, he managed to make the taller man step back.  "I have just wasted three hours of your time and mine.  You and your business associates will fly home business class at the expense of the company and you will have gained nothing.  I will ask my sister to take the cost of your incredibly expensive journey out of your bonus, but she probably won't since she is in charge, and I am not, nor do I want to be. You're lucky she seems to think you valuable, but that will probably change if you keep trying to dodge her authority by coming to me."

Quatre continued to advance on the man, making him flinch, but passed him, opening the door. 

"Mr. Winner, this is outrageous.  What would your father say to such insolence?"

Rashid, who had remained silent and unobtrusive as possible, now stood, watching for any sign of needing to throw the man out.

Quatre glared daggers.  "I know exactly what he would say, Mr. Clancy, but he gave up that particular pleasure of his when he died.  Plus, he's not in charge anymore, is he?  And neither are you.  My sister Johara is, and what she says is what goes, whether you or I agree or not."

The man glared.  "How can you be so callous?"

The secretary interrupted now.  "But the will said..."

"I don't care what the will said," Quatre snapped, causing the secretary to look insolently down at her briefcase.  "I have willingly handed over all of WE to her capable direction.  If you can't handle that, then perhaps you should find a more accommodating position, because I'm not going to change my mind, and I'm tired of you coming to me every time my sister makes a decision you don't approve of."

He stood to the side.

"Good day, Mr. Clancy, good day, Miss Crawford."

The affronted president of treasury had regained a bit of his composure and walked up to the blond, looming over him.

"Do you have any idea, how much of this company is tied up in you?  Your father would be so disappointed."

Quatre bowed his head curtly.

"As we discussed, that isn't really an option for him now is it?  Good day, Mr. Clancy."  

The man left, infuriated.  The secretary laughed at the small blond, condescendingly, eyeing him like leftover trash before walking out to join her boss.

Rashid watched carefully as Quatre watched them leave.  Once the boy's hand left the doorknob, it was shaking.  He looked at Rashid, absolute rage in his stormy green eyes before he walked out and headed the other direction, toward the recreation area.

~~

Heero napped for a few more hours before he decided to get up and explore the house.  It was a large, mainly one story house. Only one section split into two stories.  The upstairs appeared to hold six comfortable bedrooms while the downstairs held a couple of labs, a computer room, a conference room, and a communications room.  The other, larger section of the house held a large, well lit living area, decorated simply, with sand colored walls, thick beige carpet and cushy green leather couches. There was a token gas fireplace in the middle of the room, which separated the rest of the open space from the living area.   The other side of the huge room was the smaller kitchen.  A large cherry wood table, big enough for ten sat on one side. Off one wall of that, through a sliding glass door was the indoor swimming pool, which was well lit with skylights.  The house mainly had low ceilings, except the swimming pool room, which had high vaulted ceilings.  

Heero stepped into the poolroom and the humidity hit him worse here than outside.  It made sense that they would need to have an indoor pool to keep from going through water.  It was a small pool, with a deep end, a diving board and a rope suspended in the center.  There were a few water toys off in the corner as well as a few tropical plants in one side, which seemed to be an open mini greenhouse.

As Heero tested the water, which was just cooler than body temperature, he heard a repetitive 'thunking' sound coming from behind a door in the corner.  He walked around the pool toward the sound and found that it wasn't steady.  It would come, about five times, stop and start over again.  He opened the door and found himself in a small workout room.  It had a suspended wooden floor and mirrors on one side.  There was a weight set and a heavy bag, and a large wooden box, which most likely held practice weapons.

The source of the strange sound was standing at the other end of the room, throwing knives a good twenty feet into a target on the opposite wall.  He didn't look happy.  He was wearing white cotton shorts and sandals.  His green short-sleeved button up was thrown haphazardly on the floor the corner.  He had five oriental throwing knives that he was hurling into the body shaped target.  He would consistently start with the head, move to the heart, hit both legs, at roughly the place where the arteries would be, and then pick a target.  He had just thrown his fifth knife into the outline's hand when he saw Heero.  He only nodded and went to collect his knives, starting the process all over again.  He was throwing them so hard that they were embedded deep past the target.

"You're damaging the wall," Heero said dryly.

"Good," the blond answered as he let the first knife fly, then a second.

Heero watched the boy as he made mincemeat out of the thin foam target.  It really wasn't for someone of his skill, more for beginners.   But there was nothing else and Quatre apparently had some aggression he needed to get rid of.

"Do you want to talk about it?"  Another knife flew.

"Why would I want to talk about it?  It's nothing new.  My father's been dead for three years, and he still won't leave me the hell alone.  That's all."  The fourth knife went handle deep into the drawn form's leg.

"I see."

The last knife plunged deep into the groin area and Heero grabbed Quatre as he went to repeat the process.  The blond looked at him, almost pulling away, but stopping as Heero smiled at him.

"I don't think that's going to help Quatre.  I have a better idea."

~~

Heero had forgotten how pleasant it was to spar with Quatre, even when he was angry.  While the other four pilot's fighting skills were very direct, using hard blocks and direct offensive attacks, Quatre had learned a more passive, circular fighting style.  He never blocked anything, but merely redirected it.  Instead of meeting his challenge head on, he flowed smoothly around it, trying to stay out of the line of site, waiting for a momentary blind spot before ever attacking.  Heero was too fast of course and it was a rare chance that Quatre got to get an attack in.  Still, Heero found that he almost never got a good hit in himself.  He constantly had to redirect his body's attacks to compensate for the blonde's fluid evasions.  This tended to turn it into a beautiful dance in which they twisted and flowed around each other in beautiful circles.  Quatre was giving it his all, and though the anger had made him start out a little off balance, now he seemed calmer, and therefore, more dangerous.

He was also impressed at how Quatre had changed physically.  It wasn't glaring, but Quatre had never looked that muscular before.  As observed, he had always seemed to have that layer of boyish fat that softened everything about him. Now, it had mostly fallen away, leaving well-defined muscles in its wake.  He didn't look ripped like Heero, but his body had taken on much more definition.  Heero couldn't help but notice that the guy looked pretty good.

Heero wondered if any of the other pilots had had this opportunity, if they even knew how good a fighter Quatre was.  Heero realized he had missed this.  It felt good, being part of something so fluid and beautiful for once.  Heero ducked as a hook kick came uncomfortably close to his temple.  He used the ducking motion to gain momentum for a high twin front kick with both feet at Quatre's head.   Unfortunately for Quatre, the kick was so high and accurately aimed he couldn't escape it.  Heero pulled the kick, letting it tap softly against Quatre's collarbone just below his throat before landing on both feet gracefully.  Quatre looked at him in surprise, abandoning his fighting stance and panting slightly.

"That's new."

Heero caught his breath.

"Wufei taught it to me."

"It was beautiful!"  The blond breathed in awe.  Heero walked over, retrieving a towel and throwing one to Quatre.  They were both now shirtless and sweating profusely.  Heero felt the corners of his mouth turn up.  Only Quatre would use the word 'beautiful' to describe someone like him.

"You've improved quite a bit yourself."

Quatre blushed and bowed his head.  "Thank you, Heero.  I've tried.  I rarely have time with everything I've been doing." This was better.  Quatre was back to his polite, humble self.

"Everything okay now?"

Quatre paused, absently drying his neck.  

"Yeah.  Thanks, Heero."  He smiled.  "I have somewhere I have to be in a few hours and it will probably go pretty late," the blond apologized. "But I'm free tomorrow.  Have you ever been sailing?"

Heero shook his head.  "Never."

Quatre smiled again.  Apparently, they had a plan.

That night, Heero watched closely for signs of activity and was soon rewarded.  A van pulled into the enclosed homestead and sat there idling.  Soon, Quatre and two Maguanacs exited and headed toward the van.  Heero climbed stealthily down the balcony and watched from the darkness.   The three men simply climbed into the van that appeared equipped for surveillance and sped down the road.  Heero quickly made his way to the garage to follow.  Quatre only seemed to keep four vehicles at his home aside from the jet. He had a jeep, one town car, a motorcycle and a Jaguar.  Heero had to pull his eyes away from that car to jump on the motorcycle.  It was the standard sports crotch rocket type, and quite fast.  He checked his comm watch to see if Quatre had changed homing signals yet.  He hadn't.  That would make it easier.  As soon as the van was far enough from the house, he opened the garage door and sped after them, lights turned off.  

He followed them into the main hub of Abu Simbel, where they headed for the tech center of the small city.  Soon, they came to the back of a sleek black building.  They parked across the street and Quatre soon emerged quietly.  He walked toward the building and into an alley.  Heero followed, but stayed as far from the empath as possible, not wanting Quatre to sense him. 

Even in the black of night, Heero's sight was acute enough to make out the boy shooting a climbing wire at one of the top story windows and making his way up.  Heero simply watched him rise and eventually steal inside, twenty stories up.  Heero moved around to the front of the building and stopped in surprise.  This was interesting.  He silently stole back to the motorcycle and drove off silently, letting the bike roll down a hill, engine off, before wiring it back to life and heading home, planning to head to the computer room to do a little hacking.

"Why would Quatre break into his own company?"

tbc


	5. Strength Of Heart Arc Chapter 4

Agh!  Another chapter!  Finally!  Huge thanks goes to Kasra for betaing this story, for without her, this whole chapter would have looked like mindless gibberish.  I kid you not.  She always saves my proverbial ass when it comes to writing.  She deserves huge thanks.  Plus, she's an excellent writer.  You should go read her Weiss and Gundam fics!  Then bug her and make her continue her Tears in The Rain story.  *nod nod*  That would be good.

Hope you enjoy it all!

SOHArc 5

"Tearing Down the Walls"

He found his blond host asleep on the sofa in the living room.  Apparently breaking into his company had kept him up late.  Heero had done enough research last night to know that they had broken into the data storage library of the small WE subsidiary, though he was not yet sure why.  However, he was still healing and exhaustion had hit him hard not long after and he decided that it could wait.  It was still cool in the house in the early morning, though the sun was beginning to beat its way across the dry expanse of desert, creeping along the cracked, packed dirt of the road outside, but still throwing long shadows across the yard from anything that braved its path.

Heero stared at the boy for a moment.  He was sacked out, the vid system still playing quietly. He was on his stomach, scrunched up, his rump in the air, his face pressed into the pillow at an unnatural angle.  One arm hung off the couch while the other was bent and pillowed underneath his head.  Heero's breath escaped in something between a gruff sigh and a laugh.  He was amazed as to how the kid could sleep in the most uncomfortable positions.  He was dressed only in boxers and a tank top and goosebumps were obvious on the pale skin.  

A sense of déjà vu overtook the stoic boy as he remembered their shared room in Sanc and now, as then, he felt a sense of comfort here.  Perhaps it was the profound amount of trust that Quatre gave to him without a second thought, or the ease with which he made Heero feel welcome.  The deep ache that had sat in his chest since Relena's rejection was somewhat lessened. He felt stupid now, for trying to commit suicide for something so trivial… not when Quatre needed him.  And yet, at the same time, he could see clearly the direct relation between the new purpose and his waning need to die.

The fact that she no longer wanted him felt like the ground beneath him had just fallen away in an instant, leaving him empty, and useless, another side effect of his programming.  If there wasn't a mission, then death was all that was left.  It had been shocked into his system since he was old enough to withstand the sensory deprivation Virtual Reality chamber.  He had talked to plenty of psychiatrists about it, but there was no cure and no treatment.  They didn't even have records of the brainwashing programs that were used, let alone very many people who had been tortured or trained in such a manner to build a basis of experience.

Of course, many psychiatrists were eager to try to figure out what was happening, but he didn't trust them with his already messed-up head.  It contained too much information.  That was why he had this death wish drilled into his brain in the first place. Rather than become a guinea pig again, he decided to deal with it on his own.  He thought he had it under control until that night he saw Relena with another man.  The realization that he was no longer needed had hit him so hard, he hadn't truly realized what was happening until he woke up bloody and dehydrated the next morning.  However, as soon as Quatre had voiced a need for Heero to help, the urge had dulled.

He doubted he would ever be free of the war and what it did to him… even if he never killed again.

Almost as if the blond was unhappy with Heero's somber thoughts, Quatre scrunched his eyes up, looking troubled.  Heero was fascinated as the unconscious boy sighed, rubbing his nose on the crooked arm he was sleeping on.  He shivered again and mumbled in his sleep nonsensically.  

With a hint of a smile, Heero went back to his room to grab a quilt.

Lady Une stared through the one-way glass and into the room below as the lab workers milled around the struggling figure on the table.  They had been forced to strap him down completely since he kept tearing the sensors and electrodes off with his thrashing.  Only a mild sedative could be used in order to monitor the subject's brainwaves during the testing.  The chances for failure were too great to simply put him out completely.  

Still, it pained her to see him this way.  She hoped desperately for something to work soon.  Otherwise, he would be beyond help.  

So engrossed was she in the procedures, she didn't notice the door to the observation room slide open and shut behind her.

"Poor Wufei."

Une looked up sharply, before relaxing.

"You startled me, Sally," she said, turning her attention back to the room.  

Sally flinched as the young man cried out in pain.  Lady Une watched her intently, as she bit her lower lip, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she looked on.

"Don't feel guilty," Une said.  "You did what you had to."

Sally touched the glass.

"I realize that, but I wish there was an easier way.  The other Newtypes didn't suffer like this."

"No," Une agreed.  "The neurologist team is hypothesizing that he's more than just a Newtype.  His brainwaves are different.  It makes sense; he was a Gundam pilot.  Even the strongest Newtypes in our fleets had difficulty in Tallgeese and Wing Zero.  That's why we needed a Gundam Pilot to test it."

"So they must be genetically enhanced."

Une nodded.

"Have you been able to get any information on the others?"

Sally turned, at attention.  "No Ma'am," she replied.  "Our team has been searching all the databases we can find, but any information Oz or the Alliance may have had on the Gundams or their pilots has been wiped clean."

"By whom, I wonder," Une pondered.  "What about the data you pulled from the Resource Satellite?"

Sally shook her head.  "Whatever Bayati might have taken from the Winner files had nothing on Sandrock or Quatre Winner.  Even our sources in Winner Enterprises can't find anything."

"Damn," Une said, turning back to the scene below.  Wufei seemed to have quieted.  His breathing was erratic, but he wasn't fighting anymore.  "I knew that the Maguanacs had wiped out most of it for the sake of the pilots, but they couldn't have found it all and I don't think they're the only ones doing it."

"What about the scientists who worked on Operation Meteor?"

"It's possible.  Though I heard they were dead."

She watched as a scientist approached Wufei with a hypodermic needle.  As the woman below placed the needle on his bare arm, it slowly sank into his skin and the plunger was depressed.  She then nodded at another scientist who began turning a dial on the large machine Wufei was wired to.  His eyes shot open and his scream could be heard even through the thick sound resistant glass of the observation room.

Une shut her eyes for a minute before turning to the woman beside her.

"Miss Po," she commanded, "the best way we can help Wufei is to find any information we can on the Gundam Pilots.  We need that data."

Sally saluted.  "Yes ma'am."  

Une turned back to the window.  

"I can only hope.  Wufei… and our future is dependent on it."

Downstairs in the computer room of the small estate in Nubia, Heero Yuy sifted through vast amounts of data.  He had made an attempt at getting into classified Preventor files and now had a program running on one computer to hack through the firewall that protected those files.  On the other console, he was mulling through the data Quatre had received from Instructor H.   The blond had kindly left Heero his own log-in, and the data had been waiting for him when he signed on.

Heero had already been awake for hours, the large amount of sleep from yesterday throwing his schedule off.  It had been nice to find the coffee already brewing and the computer set up.  Quatre must have known he'd head there soon enough. The blond was still completely dead to the world upstairs.

Originally he had wanted to look into Quatre's files to see if he could get a hint of what might be going on.  Quatre's behavior of two nights ago still stuck in the Japanese boy's mind and he had a deeply urging sense that he needed to find out for himself, rather than waiting for Quatre to tell him.  However the data offered from Instructor H that sat waiting on his personal folder had proved far too tempting and Heero had been reading it now for a few hours.  It wasn't wasted time.  For all Heero knew, this could be part of Quatre's dilemma.

The files began with a roster of about one hundred names.  Names of children, all of whom had been cultivated in vitro during AC 179.  Only Heero, Quatre and Wufei's names were recognizable on the list.  The rest were people Heero had not heard of, most of them male.  There were about seven girls who were included.  The next seventy pages contained basic summaries of where the children ended up and observations by the scientist.   

It was hard to wade through as his notes sometimes blurred into the histories themselves.  These histories only seemed to cover seven years or so. Some of the children had ended up dying, casualties of war, poverty and malnutrition.  Some had simply disappeared.  Some had never made it out of the test tubes, the genetic altering proving too much for their delicate development.

Heero's history was short and sweet, fairly devoid of many notes by Quatre's influencer, except to say that he didn't approve of Dr. J's treatment of the subject and his decision to keep his life within the lab.  Heero had grown up in this environment, entirely devoid of the average child's curriculum.  He had been trained to kill and had actually started his surreptitious career by the age of seven, helping to lure targets to their demise.  That's all he had known until the day he was recruited as a Gundam Pilot.  Whereas the other scientists had stressed the importance the children establishing a life bond with their colonies in order to encourage patriotism and fuel the cause they were fighting for, Dr. J had believed that a more clinical approach was necessary to establish an adequate soldier.   The only mention of his genetic tampering was that of his enhanced strength and coordination. His ability to heal quickly was quite a bit higher than any of the other subjects, as well, though they all had some amount of quick healing.

Wufei had grown up in a well-respected clan on L5.  Most of his childhood had been spent learning the art of war and combat.  What was interesting, though, was that the notes within this history seemed to indicate that they had ruled Wufei out as a Gundam Pilot candidate.  He had not been exhibiting the signs that were conducive to Master O ideal for a pilot.  Rather, a girl named Meiran was being cultivated as the first choice.  

It didn't say why Wufei had eventually been chosen.  Something must have happened later on to change their minds.  His genetic enhancements had manifested themselves in his intelligence.  By the time he was seven, he had already learned three languages fluently and was working on two others.  His IQ was phenomenally high and his memory, astounding.  His only setbacks were a propensity toward arrogance, a flaring temper and little patience.   A side note from H showed a suspicion that Wufei's father might have beaten him quite severely in the name of discipline based on conversations held with Master O.

Quatre's profile was interesting and by far the most prolific.  His grandfather had been a large part of the movement to exact revenge on the late Heero Yuy.   He had funded almost 50% of the Operation Meteor experiments.  In return they genetically engineered several of his progeny to be pilot candidates.   There were five that survived the DNA altering process.  Four were girls and were spread out among the colonies to be adopted into families.  The son was kept, to be raised at home.  

Instructor H's notes here were numerous and detailed concerning Quatre.  Though delicate in constitution, Quatre excelled in all physical training.  He was a first class martial artist and an exceptional fencer.  What he lacked in strength, he made up for in strategy and speed.  He excelled in mathematics and tactics.   Even as a child, he had a very compassionate nature.  Instructor H made several notes, surmising that this could end up being his ultimate strength, as well as his ultimate weakness.  He also noted that Quatre had a particularly low self-esteem as a child. He was careful in all that he did, but he would beat himself up severely for any mistakes.  Though he was very sweet-natured, Quatre could be quite stubborn when he wanted to be, especially where his father was concerned.

Quatre's father had been against the plan from the beginning.  Despite his protests, Joseph Winner, Quatre's granfather, was the head of the family at the time and decreed that ultimately it would be Quatre's choice as to whether or not to fight.  Of course, neither Quatre, nor his father was aware of the real objectives of operation meteor.  Quatre had been adamant on fighting in order to protect his family and loved ones.  Subsequently, Quatre had born the brunt of much of his father's disdain and anger, according to the notes that littered the pages.

Because of his fairly average development as a newtype, Instructor H seemed unsure of exactly what Quatre's enhanced skills were at that point.  The boy seemed to know people's emotions if they were close enough and could definitely sense their pain.  However, sometimes he seemed to feel what the professor termed as "ghost pains."  For no reason whatsoever, even with no one feeling as such in the vicinity, Quatre would suddenly feel pain.  It could be anything from a mild headache, to horrible searing pain that would cause the young boy to collapse and suffer mild to severe heart palpitations.  This caused a lot of concern and the sect had been hesitant to keep Quatre in the program at that point, for fear of his seizing during battle.  However, Joseph Winner's money and influence had smoothed the glitch over and Quatre had continued his pilot training despite his father's continuous objections.

The notes had ended with a report of Quatre being abducted in the night.  He had been drugged and hauled off in a non-descript van by soldiers of fortune.  By the time a special group had been dispatched for search and rescue, the boy had already escaped, having taken out his guard and jumped from the van.  The found him, bruised and battered, but steadily hitchhiking his way back home. No proof was ever found, but Instructor H noted with certainty that the abduction had been his father's doing.

Heero was interrupted from his study when the other computer beeped its success at accessing the Preventor classified files.  He quickly moved to download as much as possible before the automatic password changed and blocked him out.  The remainder of his morning was taken with analyzing the information and sending an encoded report to Trowa, who was close enough to Wufei to meet him in person.   

Preventor Satellite 592 sat idle and quiet as most active officers were covering the Alliance peace conference on Colony 02-I7.  The only sound to be heard was the echo of combat boots on tile, reverberating loudly through the empty hall.

This was one of the few places weapons were still permitted in the Alliance nations; one of the few remaining storage bays of active mobile suits.  Though no longer used for war, they were sometimes deployed for large public events, or protection of alliance diplomats in unfriendly sectors.  Today five would stand over the senate building where peace talks were currently being held.

Not all weapons had been destroyed; not all nations were yet convinced that total pacifism was real, ideal, or desirable. The Alliance was slowly gathering with each government to bargain for peace.

The guards in the overly large bay lobby paced slowly, taking advantage of the quiet time to talk about something besides shop.  It was nice not having the stodgier, older commanding officers around.  Four women and three men were all that manned the lonely base today.  A skeleton crew, left behind while most of the force milled about the O4-I7, keeping crowd control and enforcing security in order to protect Relena Peacecraft and the other delegates of the Alliance diplomatic contingent.

A buzz at the outside door sounded and one guard broke from conversation to answer.  She smiled at the handsome young man that stood at the door.  He cut a tall, trim figure, with warm, but scathing eyes and an angular face.  He wore Alliance tech issue and a matching brown cap.

"Hi," she said.  "You have official business here?"

He nodded and smiled.  His voice was deep and husky as he answered. "I had maintenance scheduled for your repair bays."  He double-checked his clipboard, affirming that he was in the right place.

"Sure thing.  Just come with me while I check and scan you in."

Together they walked to the tiny desk at the end of the huge hall.  She kept the man in front of her, more for procedure's sake than caution.  They often had problems with these old satellites and it was not uncommon to have workers in and out almost constantly.  The other guards kept watch on both of them.  

Checking the calendar, it seemed as if maintenance had, in fact, been scheduled.  She checked it off and pulled the scanning gun from its holder.

"Can I just get a quick retinal scan?"

He smiled and leaned forward, letting her hold the scan gun to his misty blue eye.  She couldn't help but close her eyes as he got close.  God, he smelled good.  He caught her eyes and she blushed, a brief sense of relief passed through her head that her husband wasn't on duty today to witness her smiling like a smitten schoolgirl at the well-built man.  Though jealousy did make for some hot nights… after the obligatory fight, of course.

"You okay?" he asked.

She started.  "Oh… Uh huh.  Sorry."  She grinned sheepishly.  "You check out all right."

"I'm glad," he replied, smiling again.  She hit the control to open the bay door for him, hurting her hand with the force with which she did it.

"You can go on in," she said, in her best 'official voice', but the stupid grin didn't leave her face.  He tipped his cap and walked in through the doors and down to the hanger, accompanied by one of the guards.  Once he was gone, she deflated.  "You dumbass," she scolded herself quietly and filled out the appropriate forms for his visit.

On of the other guards walked over.  "That guy looks familiar, you know?" he said, good-naturedly.  "He's cute.  He looks like one of the models in the military catalogues."

"He's okay," she replied casually, already trying to access his files.

"Looks like his name's Mueller.  Alex Mueller.  You know him?"

The guy shook his head.  "Guess not.  Had a general named Mueller once, when I joined.  But I never actually saw the guy.  I had KP most of the time."

"Troublemaker," she quipped.  "Good thing your wife made an honest man of you."

As an afterthought on viewing his picture…  "You think he'd mind if I printed this out and pasted it on my ceiling?"

"As long as I get one too," the guy replied, admiring the standard ID photo.  She laughed.

A sudden noise jolted them out of their conversation.  They looked up to see the hatchway closing.  She pushed the com button.  The other guards ran for the door. "Hey, sir, you can't close that door.  Sir?  Sir?"

No response.  She scanned the vid screens, but couldn't see him, so she quickly switched one view to the hatchway.  It was still empty, but after a few seconds, it was apparent that the clock on the screen was frozen.  Another alarm went off and everyone looked up, as if looking at the firing claxons would solve the problem.  The door wouldn't open.  She couldn't override it.  Quickly, she brought up a status of the equipment.

"What the hell?"  She looked up and paled.  She was going to get in big trouble for this.  "Call HQ.  He's stealing a mobile suit."

They looked on helplessly as the outer hatchway light blinked; the base shifted under their feet as the mobile suit launched from the bay. Until the outer hatchway was closed, she was unable to do anything.

Once the green light signaled re-pressurization, she opened the hatchway.  The camera was still frozen, but the guard that had accompanied the man lay unconscious in the passage.

"We're in deep shit, you know that," one guard said.  

She nodded.  She brought up the docking status to see what he had taken.   "That's odd," she said.  "He took the oldest model in there."

"Maybe he's just a scrap hunter?"  

She shook her head.  "I don't think so.  Can we chase him?"  

"We don't have a pilot here today."

"Damn."  She hit the console.  "Well it's registered, so at least they can track it."

"After they fire us all," another guard said.  

She bit her lip.  This was not turning out to be a good day.  It didn't improve when five minutes later, the blip on their radar tracking the rogue Gundam's route faded out.

******

The sounds of morning activities around the compound filtered into Quatre's sleep-laden ears, bringing him closer to wakefulness.  He could tell by the glaring light that filled his senses, and the airy open house, that he had slept late into the morning.  In a safe environment, he was a sound sleeper and he had gotten little sleep over the past three days with all of the excitement.  

A slight bit of insomnia had afflicted him the night before. He had arrived back home, in the early morning hours, but had apparently fallen asleep on the couch watching television once his mind settled.  The television was off, the entertainment center hidden behind the wall and a light blanket kept the chill from the night air of the dessert off of his bare arms and legs.  

He groaned, deciding that it was too late in the day to hope for more sleep and rolled off the couch onto the floor, stretching like a cat and finally getting to his feet.  He shuffled to the kitchen and poured what was left of the coffee into a mug.  His morning brain finally acknowledged the fact that someone was up before him and he decided Heero must be awake somewhere in the compound, since no one but Quatre really drank the coffee from the kitchen as there was a machine out in the garage too.  As he shuffled to the bathroom, it occurred to him that it have been Heero that covered him up and shut the vid system down.  He smiled as a little tinge of familiarity brought back memories of their days in Sanc.

After half an hour of stretching and some light exercise in the living room, Quatre finally felt awake enough to present himself to someone else adequately.  He climbed the stairs to the bathroom and washed his face, giving his hair a quick comb, and climbed into some loose cargo pants and a white t-shirt.  Once he was satisfied with his appearance, he headed toward the computer room to drag the Japanese boy out sailing as promised.

******

A single red light blinked silently on the vid screen of Trowa Barton's small trailer, the ID reading "Private."  Outside, the pounding of running footsteps could be heard approaching the door.  It banged open and Trowa ran inside, still sweaty from the last performance.  A small red light on his wrist communicator beeped in sync with that of the incoming caller's signal.  Trowa hit the button.

"Barton here," he said, trying to catch his breath.  He had run all the way from the main tent when he saw his communicator go off.  He was still in costume, the paint on his face smeared from the washrag he had been about to use when he got the call.

"This is Wufei," a voice said over the comm.  "Did I call at a bad time?"

Trowa smiled.  Wiping off his hands, he turned visual on and Wufei's image appeared.

"Only by a few minutes."

"My apologies.  What can I do for you Trowa?"

Trowa sat down in front of the monitor, adjusting the volume.  "Actually, I'm on the colony for a few days.  I was wondering if we could get together for lunch."

Trowa refrained from saying anything else, since this was a Preventor channel and at the moment, they weren't sure if it was secure.  He didn't want to get Wufei in trouble.  However, the data Heero had sent early this morning had certainly pointed to some odd activity lately. It was enough to warrant discussion at least.  But Trowa wasn't about to send information electronically… especially right back into the place they just hacked into.  He needed to talk to Wufei in person.  

"I'm afraid I have to turn you down," Wufei replied, matter-of-factly and much to Trowa's surprise.  Subtly, he reached down and pressed the 'record' button.  Wufei was expecting this information.  He knew that Trowa would have it.  He wouldn't just refuse a meeting... unless he was being directed.  Feigning mild surprise and disappointment, Trowa raised an inquisitive eyebrow.  

"Why not?"

"Lady Une has pinned me with reading and assessing all the violence reports at the recent peace talks.  There was a riot and I have to make sure none of the Preventors used unnecessary force."  He smirked.  "Part of the luxury of being of high rank.  Perhaps I could take a rain check?"

"Sure thing," he said carefully.  "I'll only be in town for five days."

"I understand.  I'll call you if I can get away."

The monitor clicked off.  Trowa quickly burned it to a cylinder and popped it out before erasing the entire thing.  There had been a riot, and it did make sense that they would dump the work on Wufei, knowing he wouldn't refuse.  But something wasn't quite right with this conversation, and Trowa intended to figure it out.

****

Heero spent the first hour listening carefully to Quatre as he explained how to sail the tiny craft.  It was just large enough for two people and tilted unnervingly when the wind picked up the sails.  However, the blond seemed to know what he was doing and Heero was no slouch.  Soon, they were sailing through the smooth water with relative ease.  They picked their careful way out of the bay and through the ships and made their way upriver.

As Heero worked the rudder, he watched the blond with interest.  Quatre leaned back on the boat-side, working the sail as they tacked upwind.  The hot current played with strands of his wispy hair and, wearing nothing more than his long cargo shorts and sandals, he looked like any other kid.  He was smiling, completely at one with the wind and the water.   Only the people who knew Quatre well could see the worry behind those eyes, the terrible weight of too much life lived at too young an age.  

Yet Quatre carried on, living life to its fullest.    Heero envied him greatly.  However, the tight worry lines around his green eyes and the tight set of his pale shoulders belied the kind smile and the carefree laugh.  Quatre was bearing some kind of heavy burden; Heero was enough familiar with the signs to know.

The only time Quatre had been close to suicide was in Sanc, after the accident with Zero.  If they hadn't come back to Earth together, Quatre would probably be dead, and so too, Heero.  At first the Wing pilot hadn't understood.  He had awakened in the blonde's arms in the cargo bay, the sound of approaching guards all around.  The pain in Quatre's eyes, in his voice, as he tried to wake Heero up before someone came… any desire Heero had to kill him had completely drained out of him.  The look in those green eyes spoke of something deep and painful, and Heero followed his emotions.  Quatre would not die.

It was only later, when Quatre had his breakdown in Sanc, that Heero realized how close the blond was to losing hope.  Finding the boy, a half naked bloody mess among the shards of broken mirror in a bathroom one night, managed to set off some warning bells.  Heero had been bent on self-destruction, trying to find a battle large enough to end him; Quatre had dogged him every step, trying to give him new direction.  In Sanc, when he had decided he had more he had to do before he could end it - that was when Quatre had finally given up himself.

Heero shifted a bit and looked at the boy.  Quatre was not generally the suicidal type.  He loved life and people and passion and music.   It had been a trail of horror and misfortune that had pulled such a strong spirit toward destruction.  But Quatre was stronger than he was given credit.  He had pulled through; whereas Heero had always been ready to die.  It was part of his programming, Quatre was right in that.  It was strange, that Heero, who had never really had anything to lose was bent on eventual suicide, but Quatre had only been lost to a destructive path when his losses were beyond tolerance.

Then again, as much as he had lost, Quatre still had friends, family and direction to keep him going.  Heero, as always, had nothing. Now with peace at hand and the war finally ended, Heero wondered if he would ever be able to look so full of life as the pale boy who had worked so hard to gain the friendship of someone like him.

So different from the friendly blond, Heero could imagine what people saw when they looked at him.  He was dark, quiet.  He rarely made conversation.  He was generally curt with people.  He was brooding, serious and very rarely smiled.

"Heero."

He looked up.  The blond was smiling at him, amusement in his eyes.

"You're thinking too much.  It's beautiful here.  Look…" He pointed up at a large raptor that circled high above.

"That's a falcon.  They still live in the wild here.  Egyptians used to mummify them to bring good luck."

Heero squinted his eyes at the bright blue of the sky.  The bird was circling above in a slow, wide arc.  

"It looks like a the hawks we have in Utah," he said, shading his eyes with his hand.  It was actually quite peaceful to watch.  Ironic, since the bird was probably on the hunt, looking for some poor hapless creature for lunch.  Fitting that a soldier would find peace in that.  Was it because it was so true to nature?  Or was it the simple calm freedom the bird displayed?

Something else caught his eye and stopped his introspective digression.  There, peeking around the corner of the cliff around which they were sailing, was something huge, colossal and manmade.

"What is that?" he breathed, trying to make out the giant figures, though they were still to far away..

Quatre smiled.  "That is one of the most amazing things you'll ever see."

As they rounded the bend, the wind was once again in their favor and it sped them hastily toward what Heero recognized as an Egyptian ruin, one he had seen before in pictures, but never up close.  Four towering stone figures with a smaller figure seated underneath.  They sat against the cliff wall of Abu Simbel, eyes serene, watching over the Nile, their source of life.  They were bigger than the Gundams, colossal manmade statues, created in a time when there was nothing but rudimentary tools of stone and metal with which to carve.  Today, a statue like this could be carved in three months.  Back then, it took lifetimes.

Quatre let the sails down and they drifted toward the monument.  Silence hung comfortably between them, both in awe at the majesty that towered above.  Quatre looked over at Heero, watching the boy's eyes take in the sight before him.  He even had a bit of a smile, perking up the corners of his lips.  Quatre smiled.  He wanted to give Heero moments like these, to remind him that life was worth living... worth fighting your programming.  Even if he had no family, he had friends, whether he acknowledged or not.

"It's beautiful isn't it?  I was sad when they decided to restore it.  It almost cheapens it."

True enough, at closer inspection, lines could be seen where the ancient stonework ended and the newer work began.  One figure had been almost completely missing, its torso faded away with time and wars, but now, four proud figures stood in colorless desert contrast to the pure blue sky.  Tourists could be seen, tiny dots moving in and out of the temple. Heero figured they would go in at some point, but for now, he would be content.

"Sometimes, I think I could just look at them for hours."

Heero nodded in agreement.  They exuded that much power… enough to commandeer unconscious worship.  He didn't see the hint of reflection and a small amount of sadness on the pale features of his companion; rather he heard it in his voice.

"I wonder what they meant to the people… when they were built, I mean.  Were they symbols of oppression, or peace?"

Heero looked over at his friend, taking in the look of doubt and confusion on his face.  He answered softly,  "The men who built the Gundams wanted power.  They wanted Earth to fear the colonies.  They wanted revenge.  But the people were tired of war; they wanted a return to peace.  That's why you were all brought up in the colonies."

"Except you," Quatre lamented.

"Right.  But even I saw enough to know that Operation Meteor was wrong."

Quatre smiled, practically standing up in his eagerness to speak.  There was so much wonder and admiration in the green depths of Quatre's eyes.  "That's because you see things Heero.  You saw the heart of the people.  Even if you were raised in a lab, you knew what they wanted.  In your soul, you understand.  You've always understood."

Heero didn't quite know what Quatre meant, but something about those words made him uneasy.  The way Quatre said it and the intensity in his eyes as he stared at the Japanese boy filled those words with meaning that spoke volumes more than a loaded compliment.  Heero stared back, his eyes cool.

"I'm not… like you say," he said quietly.  "I just tried to follow my emotions… when I ran out of orders to follow.  I knew what I needed to do.  When I didn't, you were there to remind me."

"And what do your emotions tell you now?"  Quatre said, a strange look of curiosity and something else Heero couldn't discern in his eyes.

"Nothing," he said plainly.  "They don't tell me anything right now."

"Did they say you needed to die?"

Heero shook his head.  "That's not an emotion.  That's a simple reflex.  Pavlovian.  If I'm ordered, I need to die, and if my mission ends and there's nothing else, I need to die.  It's like thirst.  I just need to drink."  

"So the fact that Relena found someone else had nothing to do with it?"

They were both silent for a minute. 

"I didn't say that."

"Did you love her?"

He nodded.  "I needed her.  She took away the urge.  But I don't know how much of me really loved her… and how much was a simple attempt to stay alive."  He looked up.  "Maybe you could tell me."

Lady Une waited for the Preventor Account to print out a debit card in her office.  The man sitting across from her boldly combed his eyes over her well-curved figure as she leaned over the printer. She knew his type.  She knew he was ogling her. Frankly, she didn't care, as long as he did what he was told.  

Calmly, she turned and handed him the card.  "This should take care of our agreement for now.  Though we may need your services again."

The man was smart enough not to make a lewd comment.  He stood, pushing his greasy hair behind his ear. "Sure thing.  I only need the portable equipment for something that simple.  If you want more though, I'd have to do it remotely.  It's gonna be hard to make that fly in this department with all of the encryption and firewalls.  The data stamp's too hard to fake."

"Actually," Une eyed him skeptically.  "You came highly recommended from a Media Engineer who used to work here.  If you want to send a resume, I'm sure we could set you up here with the proper equipment."

He laughed.  "Lady, in a better economy, I'd say you couldn't afford me.  But as it is, I'll send you something tonight."

She held out a graceful hand, allowing him to engulf it in the heated sweat of his own.  "We have an agreement then."

"Sure," he said, opening the door to leave.  "And don't worry.  I get my reputation for keeping quiet.  Your secret's safe with me." He left, taking one more raking glance down her body before shutting the door behind him.

Une stared at the door with disgust. "I know," she said coldly, moving back to her desk and flipping on the vid to check her messages.  One callback marked 'urgent' from Lucretzia sifted to the top of the list and she selected it, making the call.  The young woman's worried face appeared on the screen.

"Lady Une."  

"Yes," she smiled.  "You wanted to speak with me."

Noin nodded, completely serious.  "We got a call from Satellite 592."

Une jerked upright in her seat. "And?"

"The Tallgeese has been stolen."

TBC

Ugh… so slow.  That part just wouldn't leave my brain.   


	6. Strength Of Heart Arc Chapter 5

Slowly but surely eh guys? More soon I hope. This is a very long story and even though I've laid out the plot, little things keep sneaking in. I wanted it longer, but I think I need to strategize and make sure all the pieces are in place first.  
  
Love y'all!  
  
SOH6  
  
"It's tricky, Heero."  
  
Quatre sipped nervously at his tea where they sat in the cafeteria of the Abu Simbel Museum. He had been able to deter Heero from his question earlier because they had reached the small dock in the cove. Quatre purchased two tickets to go through the museum, and since Heero had always been fascinated by history and sociology, the blond had hoped the question would pass. However, Heero was not one for distraction and once they opted to buy something to eat before returning home, Heero had proposed the question again.  
  
"But you can tell, right? You can sense emotions if people are close?"  
  
Quatre nodded carefully. Heero set down his own coffee and placed a hand on Quatre's wrist, causing the boy to jump.  
  
"So what do you feel?"  
  
Heero was fascinated as Quatre's irises dilated a bit at the contact. The blond took in a sharp breath, trying in vain to hide it. It seemed that contact intensified whatever it was Quatre felt from other people. Heero hadn't remembered seeing this before, though neither had he been especially looking for it. It was such a subtle change, it would be hard to detect. The only close contact Heero had with Quatre at any other time had been in Sanc. and neither of them had been in a stable mental state at the time to notice much of anything.  
  
Looking into Heero's intense blue eyes, Quatre decided it was no use avoiding the question. Heero wasn't going to let go.  
  
"It's not that easy," he said. "I grew up with thirty nine sisters and quite a lot of servants. In all that time, plenty of them told me they were in love."  
  
"And?"  
  
Quatre shook his head. "And with every single one of them, it felt different to me. Some emotions were very intense. Some were more gradual, but never very strong. But the emotions that were the most intense always seemed to fade away faster. When the emotion was more controlled, it seemed to last." He took another sip of his tea. "Even then, they all felt different. I think that the strong emotion was obsession. The weaker emotion was actually love." He looked at Heero's hand on his wrist. "I don't feel emotions really. I just feel the physical reaction to the emotions. like my being able to feel your pain."  
  
Heero cocked his head. "Then how do you tell the difference between them?"  
  
Quatre smiled. "They do have different feelings, even physically. Love, lust, obsession, grief, all affect different parts of the body. Joy is a fluttering in the chest and an increased heart rate. Fear is a rush of adrenaline and cold sweat. But they don't feel the same radiating from someone else as my own fear and joy. Unless I have a context to put those reactions into, it's hard sometimes to tell one from the other."  
  
"But you could tell with your sisters?"  
  
Quatre nodded, slowly pulling his wrist from Heero's grasp. The intensity of Heero's nearness was overwhelming him.  
  
"If they told me they were in love, I could tell whether it would last or not. most of the time. I could usually make an educated guess as to whether they were in love or whether they were just infatuated."  
  
Heero noted the relief that passed through the blonde's eyes as the contact was broken and filed the information away for later. For now, he needed an answer. He stared the other boy down, not letting him put it off any longer.  
  
"So make an educated guess, Quatre."  
  
Quatre laughed softly and nodded. He looked at Heero with a faint, regretful smile. "I think that you love Relena." The green eyes flickered and immediately dropped to stare at his own cloudy brown reflection in his tea.  
  
Though he wasn't sure why, Heero felt some relief at this statement, but rather than let it go at that, he was determined to figure out why this subject was so disturbing to the Arabian boy.  
  
"So what's the problem?"  
  
Quatre continued to stare at the table, silent. Obviously, the answer was there already and Heero carefully sifted through all that had been said before answering the question himself.  
  
"Relena was infatuated with me."  
  
Quatre nodded. "But she didn't love you. at least I think she didn't."  
  
Heero crossed his arms. "It seems pretty obvious she didn't. Since that guy became her secretary, they haven't been apart."  
  
Quatre looked up, about to say something. Heero could see the battle going on behind the sharp green eyes, but obviously, Quatre thought better of it. "She cares about you, Heero. I haven't seen her for a while, three months actually. The last I was with her, she spoke of you fondly."  
  
Heero felt his melancholy overtake him once more. "I waited too long," he said softly. "I wanted to be with her, but. I didn't know what to say. She was always so busy. There were so many people around."  
  
Quatre looked at his friend sadly.  
  
"I was going to get her alone," he continued, "and tell her how I felt. I had it all planned out. I was just waiting for the right time."  
  
"I'm sorry it didn't work out, Heero."  
  
Heero nodded and they sat in silence, looking through the windows at the small market into the outside, where people in brightly colored robes sold their trinkets and carvings, eking out a living from the happy tourists. Nothing needed to be said. Heero felt better, just for speaking his mind to someone who would listen.  
  
It hadn't been worth dying for, though he knew that he couldn't quite help the downward spiral of his mind. It was something he would probably have to fight for the rest of his life.  
  
"They didn't plan on it," Heero said, pulling Quatre from his own thoughts. "They didn't expect us to survive the war. They only trained us to carry out what they wanted. I certainly didn't expect to survive."  
  
"Neither did I," Quatre said quietly. Heero observed the boy closely.  
  
"Did you want to?" he asked.  
  
Quatre shrugged. "Yes and no." He looked up, his eyes deep and thoughtful. "I decided to fight because I wanted to protect the ones I loved. But I also wanted to escape."  
  
Heero remained silent, waiting for more.  
  
"My father wanted me to stay. He wanted me to run the Winner Estate. I was his only male heir and he didn't want me to die in the war. He hated that I wouldn't accept it. He thought I would be happy that I could live in comfort, away from the battle, and carry on his pacifist role after him."  
  
Quatre looked up. "But I hated it. I hated the politics. I hated the dance, and my abilities made it worse. Do you know what it's like, to smile and talk to someone who's smiling at you, secretly hating you and wondering how to eventually step over you?"  
  
Heero shook his head.  
  
"That's what most of them were like. And my father liked them! Even if he didn't, he pretended to. I can't do that. I never could. I like people, but I can't run a business or be a diplomat because I can't play that game.  
  
"So I ran away. Part of me wanted to die, for all I've done," Quatre's green eyes grew dark for a moment, "and to keep from having to come back to this. But I dearly love the Maguanacs, and all the friends I've made." Quatre looked meaningfully at Heero. "I'm glad that we all made it through. Because now we can help to protect what we fought so hard for."  
  
Once again, Quatre looked as though he wanted to say more, but didn't. He stood up, and Heero followed. "We should get back. I have some business I need to take care of. I thought we might go for dinner in town tonight? There's a great Italian."  
  
Heero grabbed Quatre by the shoulder. He was looking for it this time, but he wasn't disappointed; a slight dilation of the pupils. With this contact he could also feel Quatre's toned shoulder tense under his hand very slightly.  
  
"You brought me here to tell me something, Quatre. How long are you going to avoid it?"  
  
Quatre slumped a little, but faced the other teen head on, his eyes stern as he shook his head. Once again, Heero could see how tired the young man really was. His eyes were dark and the fine tiny lines underneath pinched the pale skin.  
  
"Two days, Heero. You need to rest and heal. You pushed yourself too hard." Quatre insisted kindly. "Besides, I can't just tell you, I have to show you. That means we have to travel and you're not well enough yet."  
  
Heero dropped his hand. "I can handle it. I got here okay, right?"  
  
Quatre smiled, a little humor returning to his tired eyes. "We have to go by camel. Have you ever ridden a camel, Heero?"  
  
Heero shook his head, a bit confused as to why they would be traveling this way.  
  
"It's rougher than riding a horse, usually, and we have to travel for four days."  
  
True enough, Heero agreed that he probably wouldn't do well with that much rough riding. His ribs still ached and his shoulder was already starting to twinge, even though it was only early afternoon.  
  
"We can't travel by jeep?"  
  
Quatre shook his head. "I don't want to attract attention and a jeep has to be registered. If we go as Bedouins, we don't have to worry. I still need to get the basic papers for you, but it shouldn't take long."  
  
"But why."  
  
A single gesture from Quatre and Heero stopped. Quatre held his hand up commandingly, a small smile on his face.  
  
"Heero, please. Don't worry about it right now. I want you to rest first." Quatre frowned as he ghosted a hand over Heero's injured shoulder, causing his skin to tingle at the light touch. "Are you sure you shouldn't see a doctor about this?"  
  
Heero shook his head. "It won't take that long to heal. I just dislocated it. The problem is it's aggravating an older injury.."  
  
Quatre looked skeptical, but smiled anyway. "Well, maybe you should man the rudder on the way home as well. I can always take you sailing again, right, Heero?"  
  
Heero turned for the door. "Teach me how to work the sails. You can take the rudder this time." He turned back, his eyes hard but with a sparkle of humor. "I can handle it."  
  
Quatre smiled and shook his head, wondering if he'd ever understand the guy. He felt a comfort he hadn't felt for a while though. It was nice to have someone his age to talk to, someone he could relate to. Even if Heero's presence was somewhat disconcerting, it was nice to have him here and safe. Though he wondered how long it would last.  
  
He followed obediently.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"You're sure you'll be okay?"  
  
Hilde paused momentarily, taking a breath so she wouldn't start yelling at the guy.  
  
"Duo, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of the place myself."  
  
She was speaking of the salvage yard they co-owned. Theirs was just one of a number of salvage business that had been contracted to clear the scraps left behind by the war. Especially critical was the debris left orbiting the earth after the battleship Libra had been destroyed. So far, very few large pieces had hit the earth, but the danger was still present, and so the couple had been working overtime to meet the demand for quick and efficient salvage. Duo had even 'acquired' a few Virgos and rebuilt them for scrapwork in space.  
  
The benefit, besides a good amount of money, meant that they could help the economy of L2 and do their small share to help out the people there. They were now contracted to four different companies and they were in demand for the quality of work they did.  
  
Duo put a hand on the back of his neck, bowing his head.  
  
"I know, babe. I kinda feel bad, though, leaving you here to do all the work."  
  
Hilde pulled him down by the rim of his hat and tapped him on the nose.  
  
"You. need. a. break," she said between taps, before letting him go. "Besides, it's not like it's a free ride. Once you get back, I'm going to go on my own vacation."  
  
Duo backed off, shocked. "Without me? What fun is that?"  
  
Hilde grinned. "Well maybe I'll consider taking you along anyway."  
  
Duo shouldered his pack and looked at her seriously. "Thanks for doing this, Hilde."  
  
"Hey," she smiled. "Howard needs you. Besides, how often have you gotten to just relax and have fun?"  
  
"It has been a long time," the boy admitted. Hilde wrapped her arms around his waist and sighed as he enveloped her in his warmth. He was always so damn warm!  
  
"So you go, and send lots of pictures. And the rule still stands right?"  
  
Duo chuckled. "Right. If we have sex with anyone else, we have to get permission first."  
  
"You got it," she smiled. "And you have to describe every lurid detail. Although if you decide to stop and see Heero and Quatre, you have my permission in advance." She licked her lips. Duo smirked, then laughed out loud.  
  
"Sex with Yui? Ha! The guy would shoot me if I even suggested it. I wouldn't be surprised if he got the 'equipment ' removed because it got in the way"  
  
Hilde giggled. "So what about Quatre?"  
  
"No way!" Duo waved his hands ecstatically. "That would just be wrong wouldn't it? I mean, you don't have sex with Quatre. It'd be like trying to get in the sack with Mother Theresa, or Ghandi or something. Quatre isn't supposed to have sex."  
  
Hilde was laughing outright now. "Okay, okay. Never mind then. I'll just have to continue fantasizing."  
  
Duo chuckled and hugged her again, overjoyed at how open she was. He was a truly lucky man. They seemed to have the perfect relationship. They were both laid back, they both loved sex, and they both had the drive to keep things going, yet neither one was possessive.  
  
"Besides, Hild', they're all the way out in Bum-fucked Egypt. Literally. Why on Earth would I want to go there when I can spend an entire month on the surf?"  
  
"But why Australia? The place is a rock, what's left of it. California would be much nicer, wouldn't it?"  
  
"Mm hmm, and much more expensive. Besides, Australia is better surfing."  
  
"Well, if you say so." Hilde wasn't sure, since she'd never seen an ocean in her life and the biggest wave she'd ever experienced was at a water park. If she were truly honest with herself, she really had little desire to see Earth. It scared her a little. There were predators, dangers, chaos and no controls. Besides, being colony born, she still held aversions for Earth that were difficult to overcome and that included an admittedly unfounded dislike for the people on Earth.  
  
The honk of a horn signaled the end of their goodbye. Duo grabbed the thin girl and kissed her hard, leaving her shocked and smiling. "Goodbye babe!" He ran down to the shabby taxi where Howard sat waiting. "I'll call when I get there."  
  
She waved until the car was around the corner. "I love you, Duo," she said. Still smiling, she turned to go back in the house.  
  
A lone man sat in a small bar in L3, a hot drink in hand, looking out the window at the incidental snow. Only a few colonies in L4 and L5 had fluctuating temperature gauges to allow for seasons. The earlier colonies were more rudimentary and were never fitted with seasonal controls, so he knew somewhere in the core of the giant station, someone was trying to get the temperature controls back on-line a task he didn't envy. The snow, he was glad of. He hadn't had the pleasure of seeing it for quite a while. Somehow it still wasn't as beautiful as the snow on Earth; even accidental, it somehow wasn't the same.  
  
As the bell on the door of the small tavern jingled, he looked up to see a dark imposing man in his late thirties enter the bar. He was of African descent, a big man, but relatively thin and angular for his size. He had calm, but intense eyes that combed the bar until they rested on the one he was searching for. Approaching the table, he looked the blond man over thoroughly.  
  
"You Marquise?"  
  
"I go by the name Milliardo. That other one has been dead for a quite a while now."  
  
The big black man smiled, his teeth white and gleaming. "Ahhh, but he's much like the phoenix is he not. that one." His voice had a heavy African lilt to it and his smile was friendly. He held out his hand, shaking Milliardo's smaller one. "My name is Mbeki. but you might know me by a different name. You see, I used to be called Last Sight."  
  
"I remember. You were recruited by Oz in the colonies."  
  
He smiled that big friendly smile. "In a firefight, I am the last sight you will see. Yes. But I'm afraid my African descent kept me down."  
  
Milliardo nodded. "Because of the African peace movement at the time."  
  
"Ah well," he drawled in his deep African voice. "It is water under the bridge. Fortunately for me, someone had the same goal in mind. I always wondered who managed to sneak under Oz's nose so easily."  
  
"Would it surprise you if I said it was a Gundam pilot?"  
  
"Actually, I suspected as much. They were the ones who were truly fighting for peace. We would have helped them if we could." He looked around. "We should go. There are too many ears for my taste, and I trust no one."  
  
Milliardo nodded. "I have a shuttle in dock. We can talk there. I trust you found what we're looking for?"  
  
The man nodded gravely. "More than that. You were right to leave when you did."  
  
"So you found the base."  
  
"I have pictures to prove it my friend. I just hope that your soft life as a Preventor hasn't softened your stomach. Because I guarantee you will not like what I have to show you." 


	7. Strenght of Heart Arc Chapter 6

Title: Strength of Heart

Author: Caer

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Eventual Yaoi, Action, Adventure

Pairings: 1x4

Status: Work in progress (part 7)

Disclaimer: This is simply fanfiction. I don't own this anime and I'm not making any money. It's just for fun.

They had been traveling since roughly four in the morning over vast expanses of sand, following what seemed to be a ravine or old riverbed of some sort. The ground was hard and cracked and dry, but smooth and creased, as if water had once marked it. A line of twelve camels plodded in front of Heero and Quatre, one behind. Heero didn't quite have all of the rider's names straight, though he had memorized their faces easily enough. He wrote it off to their foreign sound on his tongue and the discomfort of his wounds. He would know them soon enough, if it was important.

Following the line, a large metal storage tank rode, its aged wheels squeaking as it traversed the cracked, flat riverbed on rusty treads. It was at least two stories high. Heero had watched as the Maguanacs had loaded it. Everything was in boxes, but he guessed that it was enough to be supplies for a small base. Duo had mentioned a base under the sand. It was likely they had a base in Egypt. What Heero didn't understand was why Quatre was still supplying what should be a military base.

He shifted, grunting uncomfortably as it jostled his bad shoulder. The three days rest had helped with his injuries, but Quatre had not been exaggerating. Travel by camel was not conducive to fast healing. Heero was tired, pained and hot. The sweat gathered uncomfortably under his arms, around his waist and behind his knees. The clothing he had been given allowed for the air to pass through, cooling his sweat-slicked body, but not enough. Additionally, there was no moving air; his only breeze was modulated by how fast his camel moved. So he was stuck between the pain of being jostled but slightly cooler, or miserably hot but fairly pain-free.

Just as he had fallen into a breathing meditation to alleviate his discomfort, his camel jerked to a stop, its nose nearly bumping Quatre's camel on the rump as the line halted at Rashid's upheld hand. The creature bleated in annoyance at having to stop so suddenly.

"We'll set up camp here!" he yelled back at them. Heero nudged his reluctant camel forward to stand beside Quatre's.

"What's going on?"

Quatre scanned the skies. "Dust storm. It's dangerous to travel right now. The sand gets so thick that you can't breathe, and in the high winds, it can tear a man to pieces."

Heero eyed him squarely. "You're not serious."

Quatre grinned. "That's the story anyway. In any case, we had better move inside. It gets pretty bad."

Duo hated hacking. Systems weren't his thing. Hardware, he could do. Mechanics he could do. Ask him to build something out of spare parts and he was your guy. But research and data mining were a pain in his ass. Yeah, he had been trained to do it… but he didn't have the patience for it like Heero did. Whenever they had been on a mission together, Duo had been happy to leave those details to Heero. He would go shopping for food and explosives and Heero could hack them into another high school and create the false records. While Heero was reading lines of code, trying to get OZ plans, Duo was getting them fake ID's and securing the truck. That was his specialty. He could talk his way out of a top security prison… or blow it up. Leave the data shit to the boring people.

Nevertheless, here he was, sitting in a beat-up hotel in Sydney, trying to get his laptop to talk to the hotel com system so he could do some snooping around Preventor databases. The only problem was, Australia being in the financial state it was, the connection was horribly slow for any interstellar communications. The satellites kept losing signal and he couldn't get the codes to read correctly. Briefly, he looked out at the balcony and wondered how far the pieces of this shitty laptop would spread if he tossed it off.

He was interrupted by a knock from the adjoining room.

"Yeah! Come in."

Howard opened the door, and Duo tried not to laugh at the older man, replete in his black swimming trunks with the bright yellow bananas on them.

"You ready to hit the surf?"

Duo sighed.

"Yeah," he said. "Just let me try this thing one more time."

"The network giving you trouble?"

Duo nodded. "It's not just the network though. I used to have access to almost everything in the Preventor database except other agents files. Now it seems like I've been locked out of anything more important than the location of the drinks machines."

"Well, that's bureaucracy for you."

"Maybe," Duo replied. "The weird thing is that they've wiped some of the locations from the database. If I couldn't see the servers by address, I wouldn't even know those bases were there. It's like they're trying to hide the locations. From the public, I could understand, but we've always the highest clearance codes. Why would they hide them now?"

"What would they hide?"

"Not sure. It doesn't matter. This piece of crap network won't let me on anyway." He got up and grabbed his board and a towel. "I'll just try later. Let's go."

The lone metal structure of the Maguanacs metal transport groaned as it stood sturdy against the maelstrom that beat at its sides. Sand scoured the outside, scraping away at the old metal, searching for entrance, burying the wheels and tread. Several camels bleated in annoyance, lying underneath the structure. What had once been a clear ravine was now awash with a howling wind that threatened to bury everything under it's path.

Inside, in stark contrast, a dozen or so cheerful Maguanacs prepared to dine, ignoring the creaking protesting metal that whined around them. They laughed and joked as they cut fruit and cheese. Some sort of dip was prepared with flatbread.

Heero was made to take a seat in the corner on one of the metal benches. Unable to help, he tried to find a comfortable way to sit and settled on watching Quatre as he served up drinks to everyone. His smile was infectious, though he was less rowdy than his older companions. There was a quietness in his smile and Heero found it calming.

The Maguanacs all treated Quatre as if he were pure gold, though the blond tried to discourage that as much as possible. Abdul and Ahmet seemed to treat the boy more jovially and with less ceremony; however, Rashid maintained a silent reverence for the Winner heir, as did most of his followers. Whether it was because of Quatre's wealth, his heritage, or something else, Heero had not yet had a chance to ask. If nothing else, it was… interesting. Whatever it was, Heero was treated with almost, if not quite the same respect. Being called "Master" Yui was disconcerting as hell and he had said as much, only to be met with agreeable nods and smiles. But they still addressed him the same.

"Master Yui."

"Heero is fine," Heero said blandly, turning to the tall man as he sat down beside him. Rashid sighed as he took a drink and sat down, also watching Quatre. Quatre looked up at the two of them at that moment. He smiled and mouthed that he would 'be right there' before going for another tray of drinks. He turned away and Heero addressed the tall man.

"Why are we heading toward a military base, undetectable to any sort of radar?"

Rashid's face darkened. He looked directly at Heero, clearly not intimidated.

"Master Quatre said that your powers of observation were admirable. However, even in your condition... I'm surprised. I understand your concern. However, I will leave that to Master Quatre in the way he sees fit. He wishes you to focus on healing for now. You will know soon enough."

"Then what is it?" Heero said, knowing that Rashid had come with a purpose in mind. Since it wasn't to tell him why they were heading into the middle of the desert, it had to be something else.

"You came close to dying very recently."

Heero digested this slowly before answering.

"Quatre told you?"

"No."

Heero stayed silent, knowing that was something for him to fathom, and figure out for later.

"I would beg you Master Yui. You must take more care with yourself, if not for you, for the sake of Master Quatre."

Heero glanced over at Quatre as Ahmet teased him about something or another.

"He's too kind."

Rashid shook his head. "He brought you here against my advice. I thought it best that he keep his distance from you."

Heero's eyes narrowed but he said nothing.

"Master Quatre is… he's strange these days."

"He seems fine to me," Heero offered, though he recalled Quatre's strange behavior at the restaurant.

"He is not himself. My Maguanacs and I have dedicated our lives to his service. We will follow him anywhere, however…"

Rashid looked Heero squarely in the eye.

"You have both been through much. Forgive me for saying so but you are still children. Perhaps, with your upbringing solely as a soldier, you have fared better. Of Master Quatre, I'm not so sure."

"What's wrong with him?"

"As I have told you, Master Yui, I did not approve of your arrival due to the connection you and he seem to share. However, now that you are here, I fear that he will need you."

"You need to explain yourself," Heero said matter-of-factly.

Rashid put a large hand on Heero's uninjured shoulder.

"As I said, we will follow him anywhere, into anything. I am asking you to watch him. He will listen to you. Listen to what he has to say, but please keep an eye on him. I fear for his heart. But remember also that anything Quatre does is meant well."

Heero was about to ask more, but Rashid rose to offer his seat beside Heero to Quatre, who thanked him, sat down, and put a plate of nuts and fruits down for them.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, his voice too quiet to be heard against the beating sand and wind against the metal of their shelter. Yet Heero could read his lips.

Heero took some cheese and shrugged. "You tell me."

Quatre chuckled.

"You seem better, but a little tired."

Heero sat back and took a sip of the rather strong tea he had been served.

"How long will it be before we can mobilize?"

Quatre shook his head. "It's hard to say. Sandstorms can last hours or days. Honestly until I came to Egypt, I hadn't seen one. It's really quite beautiful when seen from far away, but they can be deadly."

"Hmmm," Heero offered, silently pondering that his blond friend was much the same.

Quatre laughed when he saw the boy frown.

"Be patient, Heero. You need the rest from riding anyway."

Heero didn't argue. He was sore. His arm was burning and he was more tired than he would ever admit. He was looking forward to resting a bit, after the meal. Night would be falling soon and travel would be impossible anyway.

Heero looked up as Rashid came back, presenting Quatre with a small first-aid box.

"Thank you, Rashid. That's just what I was thinking."

"If your friend is tired, I've set up bedding for both of you. Master Yui, you should think about resting yourself." With that, he bowed deeply and took his leave, yelling at the other men to clean up quickly. Quatre opened the box and retrieved the bottle of painkillers, handing these to Heero first. The boy took them silently and washed them down with the odd-tasting juice he had been provided, while Quatre dabbed alcohol on the cut on his head. Had it been anyone else, Heero would not have been touched, but Quatre had tended his wounds enough in the past. He found that he was quite comfortable with the blond as he worked carefully at treating his more superficial wounds. At the care and concern Quatre was showing as he worked on the cut at his temple, Heero couldn't help but feel a pang of remorse for causing it. He wondered again at Rashid's strange request.

"That guy. He's very loyal to you," he said carefully.

Quatre smiled quietly.

"Rashid was more like a father to me than my father was. He taught me many things about myself. Even now I don't know what I would do without them."

The blond became silent and contemplative... a look of worry wrinkling his pale brow. He focused on treating Heero's small wound, patching it with artificial skin before moving to some of the scratches on the boy's hands.

"Quatre."

Quatre stared down at the first aid kit as he closed it quietly. Heero watched him worry his lower lip with his teeth.

"Please don't ask yet Heero. I can only show you. Telling you now is only going to set you back. Now..."

Quatre stood, closing the box but handing Heero a small vial of liniment.

"If you're ready, we should get try to get some sleep."

"Trowa, are you sure you have to leave?"

Cathy stood against the door inside Trowa's small trailer, concern written clearly on her face as she watched Trowa pack. It didn't escape her sharp eye that he was packing enough for a very long trip. He hadn't told her where he was going except that he was going to visit that friend of his again. Though she knew that Trowa had to live his own life, she couldn't help but be bitter. She wished that those guys would just leave him alone. The war was over. Yet he continued to go off to fight. It was confusing. If he wanted to stay with them, why did he keep leaving?

Sensing her turmoil, Trowa turned and gave that little half smile that always set her to melting. He seemed so fragile sometimes even when towering over her. Between the impressive physique he had to have for the acrobats they performed as well as his past as a soldier, he could easily handle grown men larger than himself, all of the animals including those that weighed well over a ton. Yet there was something so boyish and young and breakable about him.

She wanted to protect him so badly, wanted to keep him safe and let him live a sheltered life for once. But he seemed to want to head off every once in a while and he never really let her in on where he was going. He would come back battered, injured and tired, but then he would just flash that quiet smile, hug her and go off to feed the animals.

He stood and came to take her by the shoulders.

"I shouldn't be gone too long. Quatre wants us to get together in Africa. We just have to check something out. You shouldn't worry so much.

"But you always say that! Then you come back hurt. Why can't you just stay with us? We're your family, and yet you keep going away. The war is over, Trowa."

"I know, Cathy." Trowa's brow furrowed as he opened a cabinet and pulled some clothes out to pack. "But war doesn't just stop. It's up to the remaining soldiers to protect peace with everything they have. We're soldiers. In many ways, we don't know what else to be."

He turned and met her eyes seriously.

"It's because this is my home, and that you are my family that I continue to do what I can to protect it. It's why we continue to do what we do."

"I know, but..."

They were interrupted by Trowa's com panel beeping shrilly. Trowa walked over and opened the channel. Wufei again was on his screen. He had heavy bags under his eyes. Cathy moved closer.

"Wufei, you don't look so good."

Wufei nodded. "I'm fine. But Une has been working us. The peace talks are taking off, but all our resources are taken, supervising.

"I understand." Trowa sat at the panel and Cathy noticed as he deftly reached over to record the conversation. "Did you get Quatre's message?"

"Unfortunately I won't be able to go."

"I see. Even after what we discussed. Quatre will be disappointed."

"I'll make it up to him. As to what we discussed, it's no longer an issue."

"Are you sure?"

"Une set my mind at ease. We've had some breaches of security recently involving mobile suits. The Preventors are just being cautious. In fact, it would be nice to see you before you go. You want to stop by HQ?"

"Cathy, can you leave for a second? I need to talk to Wufei alone for a minute."

"Sure, Trowa. Say goodbye before you leave?"

"Of course."

After the girl stepped out of the trailer and closed the door, Trowa turned back.

"Wufei, what's going on? Mobile Suits? Any particular suit?"

"I'm not able to say over this channel. That's what I want to talk with you about. It involves Wind."

"I see." Trowa was calculating silently. He needed to talk to Wufei, but he also knew Quatre had called the pilots with urgency. Something in him was setting off alarm bells still, even though this was different from the last day he talked with the Chinese pilot.

"I have to leave this afternoon to get there. I probably should wait until after. Are you sure you won't come?"

Wufei smiled. "Maybe I'll consider it. But it depends on how much work I have to finish."

"Okay. I hope to see you there, Wufei."

Cathy jumped as Trowa exited the trailer. "That's weird," he said quietly, seemingly more to himself.

"What's wrong?"

Trowa shook his head. "Something's not right. Cathy, if anyone comes looking for me, don't tell them where I've gone."

"I don't even know where you're going."

"Even the area. I'll try to contact you when I can."

"But Trowa!"

With that he picked up his pack and headed out for the transport. Cathy watched forlornly as her little brother left their little family once more.

Milliardo Peacecraft winced as he flipped through a file of pictures. Mbeki sat across from him, looking at the man knowingly as he examined each photo carefully. The pictures were gruesome. Even in the war, though Zechs had seen a fair share of cruelty, he had not ever seen anything this cold and calculatingly horrifying.

"Do we know who any of these people are?"

"They are the lost," the deep rich voice replied. Mbeki handed over a report. "They are the poor and the nameless. Most from L2. Some from L3. There are others, but only a few even have a documented past. Some are criminals. Some were even imprisoned before they disappeared."

"I had suspected that this might be occurring, but this... why children?"

"Perhaps inevitable? With so many dead after the wars, there were more lost children than there were adults. Perhaps their minds are more malleable."

"Any clue as to who is running this?"

"No. There seemed to be no data connection to anyone who might be running the show. These pictures were only obtained with luck. I lost two men and they were barely able to find the labs and infiltrate them before they also disappeared. If we hadn't found the encrypted files floating around in cyberspace with our symbol attached, we may never have found out."

"Yet somehow they've already infiltrated the most secure strongholds that exist."

"You were right to leave when you did. However we are too small a group. We can not fight. We can not even show ourselves until we know who we are fighting."

"Even within the Preventors, I couldn't tell who to trust and who to avoid. They may even have a Gundam Pilot now, since they couldn't get me."

"So tell me, how did you manage to find out?"

"Besides your communications, the officer I was having a relationship with started acting strangely. After that I went on instinct."

Mbeki laughed and slapped the table.

"I can guess who I bet. With that kind of luck my friend, I think that Zechs is still lingering about eh?"

Milliardo smiled. "He may be needed soon. We're quickly running out of allies. They were coming for me. I work with one of the Gundam Pilots. I imagine they would target him next, then the others. Without them, I doubt there's much to stop whatever is going on."

Mbeki rose.

"Then I think we should find them with great speed. If my sources are correct, we may already be too late."

Heero grimaced and adjusted in his seat before reaching for his water bladder. He had dealt with extreme conditions before, but he had never been in this sort of heat. He was developing a rather dark tan, even through the cotton garments he wore. Quatre was not faring so well however, for though he was accustomed to the desert, his pale skin did not do well in the intense heat. He had developed a shiny burn across his shoulders and the tip of his nose.

In his talks with the blond Heero had discovered that though the Winner family had for decades had a large stronghold in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, his family had migrated South from Northern Europe. Of course, his family had been among the first that had also migrated into space and made the colonies so successful back when they were first established.

He pondered silently Rashid's words from the day before. The man seemed to put a lot of emphasis on Quatre's empathy when it concerned him. Last night when they had retired to their sleeping rolls in one of the storerooms within the transport, Heero could not help but notice, that as his own thoughts had turned to Relena and more painful memories, Quatre's sleep had become more fitful. However Quatre had always seemed more sensitive to the emotions of the pilots than regular people. He never thought Quatre had been particularly sensitive to him more than the others.

Then again, Quatre had known to take Heero to earth, when he had nearly destroyed them both and Quatre had turned the shields of the Mercurius on them before threatening to self destruct in order to stop him.

When he had come to, Quatre had dragged them back to Earth and to Relena Peacecraft. As Heero had realized what the Zero was making him do, he had also seen the future he needed to follow in order to reach his goal. He had never told Quatre, he had just known.

If Quatre could feel Heero's pain halfway across the Earth, how intensely could he feel it if Heero was right there? He wondered if his nearness could possibly be making things worse.

"Heero!"

Quatre trotted up alongside him.

"We're here."

"Huh? I don't see anything." As Heero stared ahead of them all he could see was a vast expanse of sand, the heat rising and creating waves of air that reflected the mid-day sun, making the desert floor shimmer.

"Rashid just has to give the signal and they'll let us in."

Rashid was in front of them all. He raised his hands in a gesture that Heero couldn't quite make out. Suddenly the ground beneath them shook. Heero felt a pain as his camel shifted underneath him, somewhat annoyed. Quatre's camel seemed a bit more disturbed as it turned in a circle before Quatre was able to get him under control.

As Heero watched, the desert seemed to open up in front of them, rising slowly until a giant hole had appeared in the middle of the desert floor held up by a monstrous hydraulic lift. Heero felt a bit of relief as cool air wafted out at them from the underground base. Everyone reined in while the transport entered the base first, disappearing into the black shadows underground. Against the sun, Heero had trouble making out the size of the base. The group followed the transport down into the darkness. As Heero's eyes adjusted to the low fluorescent lights, he could see that they were in a large hangar. Mobile suits could easily be deployed and as he looked around, he could see the oddly designed Maguanac fleet stationed in each bay.

As they gathered inside, the large door began to lower above them. As it hid them under the sands, the group was dismounting. With a little effort, Heero was able to cush his camel as Quatre had shown him and the large animal grunted and settled to its knees and finally its haunches. Heero dismounted awkwardly, noting that as Quatre also climbed down from his camel, he was subdued and only stole the occasional quiet glance over at Heero to make sure he was handling himself.

Quatre approached, smiling again, though the smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Ready?"

They followed Rashid to the end of the bay, where a large elevator stood waiting.

Quatre was quiet as they entered and the elevator descended even farther underground. As they dropped down past another floor of mobile suits, Heero started to feel a sort of dread. The mobile suits they had passed were in pristine and seemingly working condition. Suddenly it felt as if the universe was pressing in on him and something was bubbling up inside him... a kind of energy that pervaded his senses and coiled in his muscles, like it often did when he was preparing for battle.

Heero had assumed that Quatre's wealth and the Maguanacs' independence would help to keep these mobile suits from being completely confiscated and deactivated in the current peace treaties. Not all nations had yet agreed to give up all weapons. The Maguanacs had also occasionally responded to larger missions from the Preventors so it wasn't surprising that they still had a functioning mobile suit base.

However, Heero's suspicion was confirmed as they dropped to one final bay, where staring up at them as they descended, were five terrifyingly familiar objects. Heero gasped and he felt as if the Earth had dropped out from underneath him as those machines waited silently, expectantly in their respective docks. He turned to Quatre, who was fixated on the Gundams and very carefully avoiding his accusing gaze.

Heero's tone was threatening and low, as he glared at Quatre.

"Quatre," he growled, making the blond flinch. "What have you done?"

TBC

Wow. Long chapter eh? I hope that it's consistent. I had it beta'd by the ever-diligent KasraC so I think it should be okay. Still. It's been so long. I'm rusty.

I don't usually put references at the end of my chapters, but Kasra pointed out that I probably should for this one.

Cushing - Is a camel term, actually a llama term too. It's a method of getting a camel to lie down so you can dismount. It starts with a rope that is attached to the animal's legs that you pull to force it to kneel while teaching the command. Eventually, you should be able to pull on the animal's reins while applying leg pressure as if you want it to go forward to make it get on its knees.


	8. Strenght of Heart Arc Chapter 7

Title: Strength of Heart

Author: Caer

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Eventual Yaoi, Action, Adventure

Pairings: 1x4

Status: Work in progress (part 8)

Disclaimer: This is simply fanfiction. I don't own this anime and I'm not making any money. It's just for fun.

Quick Comment: I know that I get really really talky in these stories. I tried to put some action in. However dialog is how I get my plot across. I'm not good at other styles. So bear with me. Lots of conversation.

Also: This is an unbeta'd version. My poor Beta Reader is feeling the pinch of real life in a very big way. So I will eventually post a good version. However since I am compulsive and can't wait, I'm posting this to only. So yeah if you see any glaring errors, please do let me know.

* * *

Heero waited until they had reached one of the small rooms used for diagnostics before Heero Yui turned on the blond.

"What is this, Quatre?"

Quatre moved forward, hands out.

"Heero, I think they'll be needed."

"You're crazy," he growled back. "The war is over Quatre, these are illegal weapons now.

Quatre shook his head. "Not true. Dubai and the Maguanacs are are independent of the Earthsphere. They're not officially under any peace treaty yet."

"Even then Quatre, they're dangerous. Eventually there will be fallout, sanctions."

"Maybe. But I still think they're needed."

"But why? The war is over." Heero's voice was low, but a hint of desperation was there.

"Yes but..."

"But nothing Quatre. I... I resent you bringing me here." He looked at his hands, a bit lost for a moment. "I... I didn't want to kill anymore."

Quatre gasped. Heero continued.

"I thought I was at least free of that." He turned and began to pace like a caged animal. He didn't even notice as Quatre clutched at his heart. "Quatre, this could ignite the wars all over again."

"No!" Quatre replied vehemently. "Heero, no one can activate these Gundams but us. They're only there if they're needed."

"But the war is over Quatre! The peace treaties are being signed one by one."

Quatre bit his lip. "I know. But it just seems too easy."

"Do you want to still be at war?" Heero turned, eyes stony, but the exasperation was radiating off of him in waves.

Heero immediately regretted saying it. Though Quatre carefully schooled his features, he did not miss the look of hurt that flashed in his clear green eyes.

"Of course not. But I made this mistake once. I thought the war was over and Marimeia nearly took control. I was so eager for peace, I was ready to destroy them. I don't want to make that mistake again. I was sure you'd... I was so sure that you would agree." Quatre's voice trailed off as if he wasn't sure what else to say.

"Then why did you blow them up?"

"They have to be a secret," Quatre answered. I gathered the main remaining components from what was left and started building again. No one can know that they're around. Otherwise, they're useless."

Quatre's eyes suddenly grew sad. "I'm so sorry Heero. I didn't know. I never would have asked you to come here if I had."

Heero clenched and released his fists a few times. "I can't be a part of this."

Quatre's eyes dropped, under a curtain of fine blond hair.

"I understand, Heero. I'm sorry. I asked too much." he said quietly. "Rashid can show you to your room. A small group is heading back tomorrow." He looked up resolutely. "You should go with them."

Heero didn't know what else to say. He turned to leave.

"Please forgive... me," Quatre got out weakly. The door slid shut, blocking Heero from his view. Once the boy was gone, Quatre let one hand travel back to his heart where he clutched his shirt. He dropped his head to his other hand and collapsed against the wall, sighing. What had he done?

"I'm asking too much, aren't I?"

No one was around to answer him.

* * *

In the relative quiet of his own room, Heero had some time to calm down. Rashid had been merciful in their trip back to the living quarters and had not spoken directly, however, Heero had been able to feel the man's hard gaze on him the whole time. He had almost reacted, but had instead, pulled inside himself and put his guard up. He needed time to think and arguing with the Maguanac was not going to help.

Dropping his small bag of items he had collected, consisting mainly of toiletries he had taken from Quatre's house, as well as the recently bought clothes, and those offered to him by Quatre, he stared out the window. Of course it wasn't a true window, since they were underground, rather it was a screen made to look like a window, that displayed a panoramic vista of sand and heat outside. Messing with the buttons, he found he could change the preferred image if he wanted. Leaving it on a wintry arctic landscape instead, he sat on the bed, instead, satisfied to stare up into space. He couldn't help but feel that he was missing something.

He loathed having to take up the gauntlet again, especially against Quatre. Yes that possibility hadn't escaped him. If Quatre was losing it, then he could once again end up being their enemy... and armed with the formidable Gundams, there was no one to stop him... even the Preventors.

At the same time, something strange had been going on. Heero silently wondered if he had been so engulfed in his own obsessions and his own pain, that he had failed to notice what was going on. Quatre's intuition had never been completely off as far as he knew.

But the war was over, and the thought of anything possibly sparking another war, brought a loathing in him he couldn't quite describe. When he had woken up in the hospital bed after Maremeia's uprising, he had felt confident in his decision to leave it all behind. He could simply contract with the Preventors. while watching Relena...

He sighed and threw a pillow. It happened to bounce off the window-screen, changing the picture once again back to the glaring sun of the real environment outside.

Relena wasn't his to worry about anymore. Hanging around her now would just seem desperate. Besides, if he didn't want to kill, hanging around as one of her secret agents wouldn't be to useful either. Of course being with the Preventors. didn't exactly ensure that either.

And then there was Quatre. That night at the dinner, he had seemed so desperate, so alone. Was it because he was afraid that Heero might disappear? Or was he afraid of himself? Was it a secret cry for someone he knew had the ability, to stop him?

Heero, in being so obsessed with his own problems and his own issues, sometimes forgot that he was not the only Gundam Pilot who felt somewhat homeless after the war. He had just always assumed that Quatre would be the best off of all of them, with his money and his hope for peace.

Heero couldn't get the past few days out of his head now... the Gundams, the break-in at WEI, the strange happenings at the Preventors...

And if Quatre was left to his own, things could be disastrous. Heero realized that the last time Quatre had gone berserk had been when he had been abandoned, by his father, by the colonies. He also wondered if there was a brand new Zero system in any of those brand new Gundams.

Heero took a breath and gripped the bed hard.

Something in his chest tightened, and he felt an itch... as he had often during the war when he had needed to change directions.

He would have to see this through. Quatre had saved him. Quatre had saved him too many times to count. The least he could do is stick around and make sure he could be there when and if he was needed.

He just hoped that he wasn't.

With that, he did something he hadn't done in a while. He got on the ops panel and started researching... looking for, what Quatre supposedly was seeing, that he couldn't.

* * *

Duo collapsed into a beach chair. He was soaking wet, but the sun and the wind made quick work of the moisture. The rest simply dripped into the fine sand of the beach.

Howard chuckled as he showed up five minutes later.

"What's wrong, Duo... wave too big for ya?"

"Ha," the boy retorted cheekily. "Funny! I blame it on lack of experience." he said, waving his hand dismissively. "Besides... how long have you been doing this?"

"Are you implying that I'm old Duo?" Howard lowered his head to stare at the boy over his sunglasses.

"What? Me? No!" Duo waved his hands in the air. "No implication involved whatsoever!" Duo chuckled as Howard joined him, pulling a soda from the bucket of ice that sat between them. "Well I suppose the water parks on L2 don't much compare to here."

"That's an understatement." Duo laughed. "Sometimes I forget how big the Earth really is, and how powerful. We're so used to conquering the forces of nature, space. I think we sometimes forget how powerless we really are."

Duo went Quiet and Howard once again felt that fatherly feeling that he had never really had the opportunity for naturally, since most of his family had ether been lost to the war or scattered to the colonies. But Duo had immediately captured his fancy when they had first met. Having lost th chance to have children himself, he found that Duo was about the closest thing to family that he had or wanted.

That paternal feeling was one reason he had immediately headed for Duo when he had gotten his diagnosis. Perhaps it was unfair, but he didn't want his life to end, without spending what little time he might have with those he cared about. Though it was selfish, he sincerely hoped to move close to Duo and Hilde after this. Plus...

"Duo," he said softly, reaching over for the boy's arm. "Look, I may still get through this. It's not like people haven't survived before. But hell, as much time as I've spent as a mechanic, I should be surprised I lived this long, not even taking the war into account. You of all people should understand that we could all go at any time."

Duo was quiet, but he nodded to indicate he was listening. It was hard to read what he thought. The sunglasses were a convenient mask, indicative of Duo's constant mantra of running and hiding but not lying. Those eyes rarely hid his emotion.

He decided to just finish. They would have time to discuss further.

"So I think it's important that I spend time with the people who made life worth living in the first place."

Duo was silent for a minute, before laughing softly. Howard smiled.

"Too sappy for ya?"

Duo shook and wiped some tears off his face.

"You know I hate to say it, but I'm too old to start another..."

They were interrupted by a quiet beeping.

"What's that?" Howard asked, but jumped as Duo cursed and reached for the beach-bag, tipping the contents out into the sand as he looked for something.

"Duo? We're going to have to wash those."

He stopped as Duo found his communicator though and punched a few buttons.

"I thought you had left that thing in the hotel."

"I was gonna," Duo replied. "But only a few people can get through right now. And I don't exactly trust the people running that hotel not to sort through my crap."

They were quiet while Duo read through the message.

"So what's up?"

"Hmmm. It's Quatre. He's inviting us all to his compound in Africa."

"All five of you? That's kind of unexpected isn't it?"

Duo smiled. "Not for Quatre it isn't. Besides, between Wufei acting weird and Heero going kamikaze on us, he probably wants a meeting where we can talk freely. Feel like going? Great tourist spot... besides, I can guarantee ya that Quatre will give us five star treatment. Much better than here."

"Why not? Besides, he's always with the Maguanacs right? They threw quite a party after the first war."

"That settles it then," Duo laughed. "Besides, this way I can give those guys the lowdown on what I've found so far. Not that it'll do them much good."

"Yeah but Quatre will have better connections than we do. You can probably find out more there anyway."

* * *

When Heero found Quatre again, it was late at night. When he couldn't find him in the commons room with the other Maguanacs, he had headed for the Gundam Hangar. The place was mostly dark, save for the emergency lights. He would have walked back out if he hadn't heard the echo of metal being banged and looking up was able to spot the boy, through the holes of the metal bridge-like platform that spanned the upper levels of the hanger.

He was sitting at the edge, his legs hanging loose over the edge of the bridge. He was resting quietly against the rails, his head resting sideways on his crossed arms. The emergency lights cast a greenish glow on the white blond hair, but it was definitely Quatre.

Heero climbed up to the second level and approached silently. He was pretty sure Quatre knew he was coming, but he was reluctant to break the silence in the empty chamber where the echo would travel as if the noise would wake the colossal machines that lay in their quiet tombs. Sometimes it was hard to remember they were just machines.

He sat down gingerly beside the boy, as places were still a bit sore from the ride, though his other wounds felt substantially improved. Quatre waited silently, ready to face Heero's wrath, no matter how he feared it.

But Heero simply sat beside him for a little while, looking down at his own Gundam. In the echo chamber, with the silent grunts and groans of stressed metal and quiet beeps of operating systems, it almost seemed like they were whispering. Their very suppressed energy, threatening to get out.

"Why Quatre?"

The blond adjusted and set his chin on his arms and stared at Wing as well. He looked even paler in the low lighting and Heero could faintly make out the bags under his eyes. Heero wondered how long and hard the boy had been working on this, combined with their missions and his dealings with WEI, he must have been completely occupied. It was no wonder they had not often heard from him.

"There's something else I haven't told you," he said quietly. He didn't speak for long moments after that. He had opened his mouth a few times as if to start, before getting stuck. Heero waited with trepidation. Could it be any worse?

"What is it?"

"When I had to go get the Gundams after I sent them into the sun..."

Quatre hesitated. "Heero, did you use the Zero system when you went after Maremeia?"

Heero answered stonily. "Of course not. It wasn't needed."

"I see," Quatre said faintly, looking a bit green, though whether it was an effect of the light as he turned or something else, Heero couldn't tell. He turned to him and faced him squarely.

"I did."

"What? Why?"

"I'm not really sure," Quatre replied, gripping the railing under his crossed arms.

"Quatre, the Zero system is a combat system. It's not supposed to be used when you're not in battle."

"I know, Heero. I don't know why I did it... exactly. But something..." Quatre's knuckles tightened and he stared down at his own hands, gone white with the pressure.

"I thought Zero could tell me if destroying the Gundams was right."

"The Zero calculates all possible outcomes based on the information at hand."

Quatre nodded softly.

"Right. I wanted Zero to use my knowledge to calculate the possible outcomes. I just wanted to see."

"But Quatre, Zero is built for instant feedback and instant outcome. It can't predict peace."

"Maybe not. But I thought it might give me an idea."

Quatre looked very unsure of himself and Heero wondered if he was

"So what did you see?"

Quatre sighed. Shaking his head, his wispy blond hair caught the light. "I saw... I saw lots of things. Not all good." Quatre turned to Heero. "And it's not just what Zero showed me. Heero, something feels wrong." he stared at his hands, his voice shaky and quiet. "Am I going crazy? I just don't know! But Heero, I turned on the Zero system with a sincere wish for peace. But what it showed me was little chance for total peace without sacrifices."

"What kind of sacrifices."

"That wasn't clear. I saw so much. Haven't we sacrificed enough already?" Quatre looked straight at Heero, desperation in his eyes. "I don't want to make that mistake again, Heero. That's why I did it. If anything happens, we wouldn't have any means to stop it."

Quatre seemed to focus on Heero now and a deep sadness clouded his eyes.

"I didn't think about the fact that some of us might want it that way." Quatre's guilt for even asking Heero to fight again was palpable. "I'm so sorry, Heero."

Heero silently stared down at the Gundams for a minute, impassive, thinking of something to say. His research earlier hadn't produced much. However there was enough to make him wary of the future. However what worried him more was Quatre. Besides his strange behavior, and Rashid's warning, now he knew that Quatre had used the Zero system again. Quatre's kindness was needed in a world like this. Heero sincerely believed that. However, something felt wrong with Quatre. Something was strained.

As cold as he had been in war, it had not escaped his attention that Quatre had been there for the pilots from the very beginning. He was even more supportive after the war, helping Duo and Hilde to start their salvage business and providing funding for Trowa's small circus group. The pilots each had a bit of funding that had come from the scientists during the war, but even that probably had ties eventually to Quatre's grandfather. Any funding they received during their mission came in wired untraceable transactions and rarely covered more than repairs and transport.

They had all moved on, but perhaps Quatre had lost more than they had when the war ended, as absurd as it seemed. After all, Quatre was the one who had wished most deeply and sincerely for peace. Yet the end of the war had brought about an end to the camaraderie of his fellow pilots. Maybe it was harder for him than anyone.

"Heero?" Quatre's voice pierced his thoughts. Heero looked into the sincerely apologetic green eyes.

"I'm sticking around."

"You are?" Quatre's voice was full of so much hope and Heero felt a stab of something indescribable in his gut. He nodded, but looked at Quatre seriously.

"I'm staying to make sure you don't do anything stupid, Quatre. Even if your intentions are in the right place, you shouldn't have messed with Zero again. If you lose it, I'll need to be here to stop you."

Quatre looked taken aback for a moment and Heero expected an argument. Instead, Quatre nodded and lowered his head, almost smiling.

"Thank you," he said quietly. "I thought for sure that you would feel... something. I was hoping... but maybe not. I just don't know, Heero. I think... I think I need someone to make sure I'm not going to mess it all up again."

"On the other hand, Quatre," Heero said softly, drawing the boy's attention just with the gentleness of his voice. "If you're right, you can't do this alone."

* * *

"I don't know where he is. He's a wanderer. He can disappear for weeks at a time."

"A shame, I was hoping to catch a performance."

Cathy stared at the tall man. He had dark features and a wide smile. Something felt dangerous about him though. She couldn't help but feel a kind of strong presence from him.

"Could I offer you some tea? You're certainly welcome to stay for the performance. If you're a friend of his, I can let you in free."

The man let out a deep chuckle and smiled even wider. "Not that good a friend I can tell you that! But maybe I will." His smile was disarming and though Cathy felt cautious, she couldn't help but feel a warmth from him.

"Well maybe I'll let you have a free ticket anyway. Then when he comes back, you can tell him what he missed." The man looked amused and she winked. "Unless you'd like to take his place."

The man laughed even harder, slapping his own long legs.

"Hooo, Miss Barton, I've been a soldier and a thief in my young days. But rather that, than across from a woman throwin' knives. Even one so beautiful as yourself."

She grinned, her cheeks warming a bit. "Tea then?" She wanted to try to get some information for Trowa, even if just a little. But she couldn't help but look forward to talking with this man. His easy manner and energy were hard not enjoy. She looked at him hopefully and his smile grew even whiter if possible, gleaming against his strong dark skin.

"How can I refuse such a lovely offer, and I will stay for the show. I don't suppose there's a chance of him returning by tonight?"

Cathy huffed.

" I highly doubt it, but he does tend to surprise people."

"That's good enough for me, Miss Barton. I like surprises."

hr

Rashid entered the Gundam Hangar Ops control. Auda was sitting at the console, watching the screen and shaking his head as he muttered to himself.

"How are they doing?"

Auda whistled and moved aside for his superior to take a seat. Across from them, behind the one-way glass, were their two resident teenage boys. Both were hooked up to the simulators. Various sensors were hooked up to them to monitor their heart rate, blood pressure and brainwaves. Both were completely focused on the simulation.

"They're unbelievable. I couldn't pilot like that in a million years. Just the speed alone is astonishing!"

Rashid stared at the screen and the stats. Even he was surprised though he had watched Quatre in simulations many times. It was obvious that Heero was able to push him to new limits.

"Our bodies couldn't even withstand the pressure of moving that fast. That's why only certain people can be Gundam Pilots."

"You aren't kidding. Master Quatre let me try out Sandrock once and I was sore for days."

"They're genetically engineered to be able to withstand the speed and power of the Gundams. Their bone density and metabolism, as well as their healing ability is highly advanced. Of course, they trained their whole lives for this. They're more conditioned than we are as well."

They watched in silence for a minute. Rashid noted the difference in the two boys as they fought. Where Heero was completely impassive as he battled, merely changing direction when he was countered, Quatre was more reactive. When his move was countered, he would react, growling a bit and focusing and then changing directions. However though Heero was a calmer fighter, Quatre seemed to make better calculations.

Auda tried to resist, but he couldn't help it.

"You wanna bet who wins?"

Rashid settled for glaring at him. That was enough to reprimand the younger Maguanac. He rolled out of his chair.

"I'll go grab us some breakfast."

In the simulation, Quatre propelled backwards, missing a beam cannon blast by a hair's breadth. Quickly, he turned, firing Sandrock's blaster at the beam cannon itself. It was enough to knock the cannon away, but Heero quickly reacted, drawing his beam saber and rushing at Quatre, missing the next blasts. Quatre flinched. He would have no time to draw his heat shotels, but was able to catch Heero's saber with his shield. He used the flasher to blind Heero and simultaneously pushed back hard. Fortunately, Sandrock had more power and Wing Zero flew back far enough for Quatre to draw his shotels.

He moved forward quickly, and guessed that Heero must have instinctually known where he'd be, since he couldn't have recovered from the flasher quite yet. Heero was able to block one shotel with his beam saber, but the other hacked hard into his shoulder joint. However, without his shield, Quatre was barraged by Zero's shoulder cannons and he had to back off. Both hung in virtual space temporarily. They were about to go at it again, when Rashid's voice broke through.

"That's enough for now. Come get some breakfast"

Quatre removed his helmet, and the sensors, looking over at Heero who was doing the same.

"So what do you think?"

Heero nodded. "They're pretty good. Do they all have a bird form?"

"Yes," Quatre began to get a little excited discussing the design. "Though, only Zero has the Neo bird design. It was hard enough giving them all bird forms without losing functionality, but at least now they can cover more distance after a battle."

"Are we gonna test Wufei's Gundam?"

"No," Quatre ran a hand through his light blond hair in frustration. "I don't have all the design schematics for Shenlong Custom. We had them on Peacemillion, but Wufei was a bit... particular."

"I remember." Heero had gotten quite the cold shoulder when he had asked Wufei about Shenlong's design. Whereas the other pilots had left the designs open, only Howard was allowed to see Shenglong's schematics and only if repairs were needed that Wufei couldn't perform himself. "He's pretty picky about who messes with his Gundam."

Quatre frowned, the tiredness in his eyes showing again at the corners. "I think he'll be pretty upset that I rebuilt it without his input. That's why I left it unfinished. I don't know exactly how his dragon fangs work. If he decides that he's in, he'll have to help finish it."

Heero couldn't help but note that Quatre's diplomatic side was always at work. Most likely, he probably could have finished the design himself, but he was sensitive to Wufei's sensitive pride, and his rather sharp ego. Had Quatre finished the Gundam, Wufei would have been deeply insulted. Instead, Quatre was leaving him a chance to keep his pride intact.

Quatre finished closing out the tests and joined Heero as he opened the door.

"We'll have lunch, and then we'll do a field test."

"A field test? Is it not detectable here?"

Quatre smiled. "Forgive me... a modified field test. There's very little monitoring the Sahara. If by chance a satellite is scanning the area, we have scan blockers with a radius of ten miles. It won't be a lot of room, but we can at least test most of the mechanics."

hr

High up in the balconies, Milliardo Peacecraft and Last sight sat, watching the show. Last sight was clapping emphatically as the acrobats dropped onto trained Elephants and rode out of the ring.

Milliardo grinned as the man almost spilled popcorn on him as he cheered.

"Will you look at this, man! I've never seen Elephants so well trained before!"

He sat down , laughing.

Milliardo was a bit more reserved, but didn't deny the joy that came from watching the circus. However he was a bit more concerned about Trowa Barton being absent from the group.

"It looks like Trowa won't be showing up tonight."

"Sure enough, now. Do you think they've gotten to him first?"

"Not at all. If they had, he'd be working with the Preventors full time, or he would be back here. Trowa Barton is probably a newtype. It's very possible he's already seen this coming. The others may also."

"Are they all Newtypes then?"

"No, but they are all bioengineered. I'm pretty sure from what I know, that at least three of them have Newtype abilities. They were all born in space. They may all be Newtypes, but some have more pronounced abilities than others."

"We should be so lucky. If they are moving on the pilots, it would be good if they are one step ahead of them, even if that puts them a step ahead of us."

Milliardo nodded, taking some popcorn politely when offered. "But Wufei is still with the Preventors. I saw him at Relena's conference. I think he's joined them."

"Then we need to find the others as soon as possible."

"If they even want us to," The shorter man leaned forward, his chin on his hands. "It's sad that we've come this close to peace, and yet it could all erupt again."

Mbeki put a friendly hand on his shoulder. "At least if we find them first, they have a choice no?"

"A choice," Milliardo laughed. "Do any of us really have a choice?"

* * *

Heero walked toward the lifts, still partially wet but drying fast in the desert air. After the field test, in the desert heat, both boys had returned sweaty and tired. Even with only ten miles, both boys had pushed hard to test all 4 Gundams and Shenlong partially. When Heero had started feeling the strain on his arm, Quatre had sternly sent him to rest for a while. Though he was mostly healed, he had taken advantage of the time and napped for a while, while watching the peace talks going on in the L5 cluster. It seemed to have gone very smoothly, the Prime Minister Shin Zhou having signed the treaty within just a month of deliberations. The Chinese celebration was lavish, with fireworks and elaborate dances in orange silk. Occasionally the camera would scan over Relena, and once Heero even thought he caught Wufei in the background. Heero wondered idly if Wufei would even be able to get to Earth to see them when it was this busy.

He wondered into the hanger and looked around, but he didn't have to look long. The sound of a power source humming and stopping drew his gaze down the hall to Zero. As he neared, he could see Quatre laying face down over the beam cannon, pliers in hand. Then he would reach over and switch the resonators on, listen and switch them off, then begin tightening.

It was pretty late and they had started early. Quatre hadn't even showered. He was dressed in shorts and a ratty t-shirt, and covered in oil and grease marks. A dirty hand waved at him, though Quatre remained where he was.

"Heero, feeling better?"

"What are you doing?"

Quatre pushed out of the cannon and plunked at one of the twelve fine Gundanium threads that ran through the cannon.

"The resonance still isn't there. It won't generate the power it needs to if the vibrations aren't perfect. Of course, if we never use them, they'll have to be re tuned anyway... still."

Quatre switched the power on again and the cannon hummed happily. However, Quatre still wasn't happy with it and lowered his goggles, crawling back down to adjust again.

Of course it made sense. Quatre had been the one to perfect the beam cannon. He would be especially particular about its function. Heero watched as he tightened one wire, plunked at it and tightened another. He sat up and switched on the power again. The resonators built to a good pitch when suddenly a loud PING sounded and Quatre jerked back. Heero jumped. The wire had snapped and as he stepped forward, Quatre brushed at a now bloody cheek. The Japanese pilot was startled as to how much the sight of blood on the blonde's cheek set his adrenaline skyrocketing. If that wire had landed any lower.

Heero stepped forward and grabbed the boy's arm.

"That's enough."

Quatre looked at the wire in consternation, but stood up shakily.

"I suppose you're right."

"I am... now show me where your medical supplies are."

Quatre took him down to the public bathroom, and pulled the med kit off the wall. Sitting him on the counter, Heero grabbed a rag and wiped the dirt off of Quatre's right cheek before dousing it with alcohol. Quatre winced, but closed his eyes and let Heero treat the small wound. Once again, Heero could see the fine lines around the boys eyes, and though he was dirty, the dark circles on the pale skin under his closed eyes were clearly visible. Quickly and efficiently, Heero applied the gel that would quickly mold to his skin, adopting the same shade until it healed.

"Done," Heero said quietly.

Quatre smiled, sighing. "Thank you, Heero..." His big green eyes opened and Heero realized he was very close and his hand was now resting on the blond boy's leg. Quatre just blinked and stared, like a deer caught in headlights.

Heero didn't hesitate when the urge hit him. He raised up a bit to reach the boy sitting on the bathroom counter and kissed him softly before moving away. It was quick and inexperienced, but sincere, and Quatre had simply let it happen. When Heero looked again, Quatre was smiling a bit sadly, licking his lips.

"what now?"

"Now, you need to get some rest. Duo will be here soon. I doubt he'll be any more receptive to this than I was."

Quatre nodded dazedly and they made their way back to the living quarters.


	9. Strength of Heart Arc Chapter 8

Title: Strength of Heart

Author: Caer

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Eventual Yaoi, Action, Adventure

Pairings: 1x4

Status: Work in progress (part 9)

Disclaimer: This is simply fanfiction. I don't own this anime and I'm not making any money. It's just for fun.

Notes

I'm not crazy about this chapter. But we need it to keep the plot moving. Once again, this is my unbetad version since my beta has a baby to care for. Please enjoy and I will be posting the good version at some point. I've also managed to screw up a bit. In my last chapter, I mentioned that Heero hadn't used the Zero system in EW, but Zero did talk to him. So I have to go back and modify that bit. Sorry. It's been a while since I went back and rewatched everything, but I just touched on at least the last shows so I'm a little bit caught up. Please enjoy.

Thanks again to all of you wonderful people for sticking with me.

* * *

"Are you out of your mind?"

Heero sat stoically by, deliberately not wincing at Duo's shrill protest as the boy leaned across the table, his braid bouncing behind him as he yelled at Quatre. Quatre for his part, held his ground, even though Heero could make out the tension in the blonde's shoulders and the tense flash of his jaw and neck as he took Duo's reprimand.

"Duo... I'm not..."

Duo didn't give him a chance.

"I can't believe you're pulling a stunt like this! Haven't you been watching the news? The colonies are declaring peace! Something like this, it could... I don't know what it could do, but it's absolutely insane, Quatre!"

"Duo, please listen!"

Duo hit the table and whipped around, crossing his arms and looking out the window. Quatre stood, straightening his suit jacket and beginning to work on the tie that had been hanging loose around his neck until then. He was dressed in a navy blue suit. It was a relatively thin suit for the Egyptian heat, but it was dark navy against a white shirt. It made Quatre look thinner and more angular than he truly was, tapering at the waist and wrapping snuggly around his thin hips. Quatre tied the tie as he approached the American boy. Heero watched all of this silently.

"Duo, please. I know the man who signed the recent peace agreement. The Emperor of Neo Sudan was an acquaintance of my father's. He's not the type to sign any agreement without all sorts of bribes and benefits. He signed this treaty without batting an eye. I don't know how to explain it, but something is wrong. I'm sure of it."

"What do you think they did, Quatre, threaten him?" Duo shot back gruffly, face still to the window. He then whirled around, hands outstretched. "The people have had enough of war, Quatre! Treize was an asshole, but he did have a point. No one wants to see that kind of suffering again. How long has it been since you met this guy?"

"I admit it's been a long time, but do people change that much? It worries me, Duo."

"You worry me, Quatre. Don't you think this is a drastic step to take when you don't even know that there's any danger?"

Quatre looked at Duo pleadingly.

"Duo, do you think I want another war?"

"Maybe you do!" Duo growled angrily. Even Heero almost jumped at the accusation. Quatre, stunned, took a few steps back, his pain almost tangible to the quiet Japanese boy.

Duo immediately regretted his words though.

"I'm sorry, Quatre. I didn't mean that. I love being a pilot, okay? I damn well miss it. But Howard has _cancer_ Quatre. I have other things to worry about. I'm through with fighting."

Heero remained silent, but he could almost feel Quatre's hesitation.

"Duo... I'm not asking you to hop in a Gundam and start shooting. This is your choice. It's your Gundam. I'll give you the access key. No one can use these Gundams but us. It's your decision. I'm just asking for your support if something happens. Howard too. Please Duo."

Duo looked at Quatre briefly before turning. "Yeah. I dunno, Quatre. This is a huge risk."

Quatre's tensed and Heero noticed his hands shaking. His voice was steady, however

"I hope that they never leave these hangars Duo, I really do. And it's my risk, no one else's. I take full responsibility for all of it. If you decide that you don't want any part of it, you can destroy the key. The Deathscythe will never see the light of day. Will you please at least consider it?"

Duo nodded quietly.

"Thank you, Duo." Quatre said quietly.

Quatre turned, flashing an apologetic smile at Heero. The smile was tinged with weariness and Heero could see the slight tremor at the corner of the blond pilot's lips. There was an almost inaudible tremor in the first part of his next sentence. Heero didn't know if he heard it, or if he felt it.

"I have to go. I have a meeting with the local medical center for some charity funds my sister set up. I promised her that I would take care of it. I'll be back this afternoon." He looked at Duo who refused to look back. Opening a box on the table, Quatre removed a small card shaped box, full of circuitry. He walked over and pressed it into Duo's hand, lingering for a moment before letting go. "Please make yourself at home. You can talk to Ahmad if you need anything... and... tell Howard that I have several family members who are good doctors. We would be glad to help. No strings, whether you decide to do this or not. Please consider it."

Quatre walked to the conference room door and opened it.

"I should be back in a few hours," he said to Heero, who nodded and watched as the blond boy gave one last regretful look toward Duo before sighing and trudging out.

A few minutes later, they saw him through the window, climbing into a black limo. Duo turned.

"Did you know anything about this, Heero?"

"Not until three days ago."

"And you're going along with it?" the boy asked incredulously.

"No," he answered calmly, looking out the window as Quatre stepped into the limo that had pulled up. "But I can't just ignore it."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Duo sighed, letting his head rest against the glass. "Damn it, Heero, Do you think he's lost it again? Or do you think he's right? With everything that's been happening, I can't deny that I have my own doubts. But this is dangerous! If the Preventors found out, we could all be in trouble."

"Quatre had his own doubts about what he's doing. That's part of the problem." Heero admitted. He paused for a moment and then decided to tell Duo more. "Before he sent Zero to me during the Maremeia incident, he used it himself."

"What?" Duo said incredulously. "Quatre hates that system!"

"I know." Heero said quietly. "He wanted to see if the outcome would be peaceful if he destroyed the Gundams. He felt guilty for sending the Gundams into the sun. He didn't want to repeat that mistake."

"Heero, that system is too dangerous. Quatre has to be wrong! If he's been influenced by Zero, who knows what he might have going through his head. He didn't even use it in combat!"

"Maybe. But he has a point. There are too many odd coincidences to rule out the possibility. Quatre is a good strategist and analyst. He's not wrong in wanting to be sure."

"Maybe you're right."

Duo sighed and sat down, shaking his head.

"Or maybe we're just too accustomed to war to accept peace. Even Quatre. As kind as he is, he's still a soldier. Maybe he can't let go. Maybe he just feels lost. I know I do."

"We all do," Heero said quietly. "That's why I'm staying. If he looses it, someone has to be here to stop him. Or help him." Heero added quietly.

Duo scrutinized the boy, but as usual, Heero was impossible to read.

"It's not just that, is it?" Duo watched carefully, though he didn't expect to see any telling expression from Heero. "You could stop him right now if you wanted to. Even if you didn't, Rashid isn't about to let Quatre fly off the handle irresponsibly. There's something else."

Heero was quiet. Duo could see a storm building in those steel blue eyes.

"How long have you known about Quatre's ability to sense our pain?"

Duo sighed, watching as the black limo drove toward town on the dirt road that led out of the complex. "Ever since I met him. That was back when you blew yourself up for the first time, remember? He pretty much lost it for a few minutes. He was barely able to pilot. If Trowa hadn't gotten on the com and ordered us all out of there, I don't know if he would have been able to get a hold of himself."

Heero's eyes widened. "What?"

"You mean you didn't know?" Duo was surprised. "He calls it the soul of outer space. He can sense when we're injured. Not just anybody. It's like he's connected to us. He just doesn't seem to be sensitive to other people the way he is to us. I don't know if that's because we're closer, or if it's something else. But he's affected by you especially." Duo said carefully, measuring Heero's reaction carefully. This time, Heero's eyes widened and his eyes turned toward Duo, questioning.

"Me?" Heero reflected back on Rashid's words. Things were starting to make some sense.

"When you self destructed, you were thousands of miles away. But he felt it. So much that I wasn't sure he would be able to leave the battlefield. He snapped out of it, but he was pretty badly shaken."

"Really?"

"Yeah. At first I thought it was just shock at what you did, but after I got to know Quatre, it was obvious that he could feel when things happened to us. You didn't know? Even after all that time you spent with him?"

"I knew that he could sense things. He knew Trowa was alive and I knew it," Heero admitted quietly. "He broke down in Sanq. It was hard to tell back then, and I was thinking about my next battle, not his abilities." There was a hint of annoyance in Heero's tone that did not escape Duo.

"Typical." Duo laughed. "You're so focused, it's disgusting. Anyway, you can bet that he felt it this last time. Whatever you tried to do to yourself, he knew. He was worried. You really need to take better care of yourself, Heero. Wait, are you saying that may have something to do with it? Like his empathy is driving him crazy or something?"

Heero wondered. Could Quatre actually be harmed if he died? Was that what Rashid had been trying to tell him? If so, were the attacks Quatre had experienced as a child also linked to him? And Duo had a point. If he was feeling the emptiness of all the other pilots, was it affecting his decisions?

Heero rose and walked past Duo. "Come with me. Quatre had something else he wanted you to see."

* * *

In the limousine, Quatre was making himself comfortable, even while opening his briefcase. A table was raised up from the floor of the car and Quatre pulled out a sheaf of papers.

"Master Quatre. Thank you so much for agreeing to meet us."

The boy smiled. "It's really no problem, Dr. Ansari. Johara is helping one of our other sisters to have a baby on L4 right now and I was going to be in town anyway."

The small wizened man's eyes widened. He had a floppy white mustache that hung down to his jawline, and white eyebrows that were so heavy, they made him look like he was squinting. He had been a long time friend to Quatre's family, and though Quatre had only seen him once or twice at some of the more grandiose Winner parties when he was a child, he had always been kind. He had always had this snow white hair as well and was brimming with energy. Quatre had no idea how old the man was. He had been long supported by the Winner family for his high ethics and his dedication to curing the illnesses of children both in space and on earth.

"Oh my. That sounds dangerous. This is Josephina I assume?"

"Yes. But she's determined, and this is her second baby. So we don't foresee any problems."

"Hmm. Well, she is a solid woman, stronger than the frail and fragile thing your mother was, Allah rest her soul."

"Yes," Quatre said, smiling. He could sense that something was wrong, however. There was an undercurrent of unease in the man. Quatre wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Dr. Ansari had always felt quiet and happy. Now, it was as if he was carrying a weight. The feeling was somewhat familiar and Quatre frowned in concern.

"I hope your in good health, Doctor," he asked, trying to inquire as to what might be wrong, without seeming rude or giving away his empathy. However the doctor smiled kindly, and the feeling lessened.

"Bless your heart, Master Quatre. I had forgotten how sensitive you are. I've had a bit of a health concern lately, but it's nothing to worry about. Thank you for inquiring."

Quatre contented himself with the answer and fanned the papers out as Dr. Ansari donned his spectacles.

"As you can see, our new contract is laid out. The children's hospital will be fully funded, as long as..."

"Of course. As long as no experimentation is carried out on any of the patients. The Winner's have always been explicitly clear on that."

Quatre refrained from mentioning that the Winner family had indeed funded quite a lot of experimentation on children precluding Operation Meteor, but of course said nothing. Quatre's father had always been dead-set against it, but his grandfather had been another matter.

"Yes. Otherwise, we have an account set up. You can draw from it when you need anything. Our accountants will help with the books, and of course once you're making a decent profit, you can start paying back to the f... the fund."

Quatre put a hand to his eyes as he felt a dizzy spell. The words on the papers blurred, though the man across from him was already signing with a fine pen he pulled from his coat. He had been losing sleep lately, but... no... something was wrong. Suddenly his eyes felt terribly heavy and he knew something was amiss. Dr. Anseri was still smiling kindly, even as he sat back, his own eyes drooping.

Quatre turned quickly to try the door of the limo, but the locks slammed down, probably controlled by the driver. Quatre looked up again blearily.

"You... what... an attack..." Quatre fell back against the seat and began to slide down onto his side, feeling like he was on a violently crashing ship. He fumbled for the communicator in his watch, but his fingers were clumsy and he couldn't find the button. Feeling his body sink into a heavy stupor, he looked up at Dr. Anseri who was nodding off gently. Just over the roaring in his ears, he could hear the man's voice.

"Please don't be alarmed, Master Quatre. You'll understand soon enough. This is for the peace of our nations."

That was all he knew as the darkness closed in.

* * *

"So these prefixes are all hidden now from the network, and they used to be there. You can't ping them anymore, but I was able to find them in the archives, and in some of the older configuration data that's still out there. But see how new some of these servers are? They couldn't have been retired... it's like they're behind a firewall even inside the DMZ. And it seems like they're mostly tied to just a few specific locations. But I couldn't get much more with my access.. hey Heero?"

Heero's eyes tracked back to Duo as he realized he had lost focus momentarily. He felt a sort of stirring in his bones as if he needed to do something. However, he digested this information slowly.

"So something is going on."

"Yeah. I guess. Especially with that old data on us that Quatre got. But still, isn't Quatre going a little too far?"

"Maybe. I doubt we need the Gundams to help us here. We'd be better off infiltrating and spying. It's a shame we're all registered with the Preventors now. Having an outsider they wouldn't know would be useful. Now that they have our retinal and fingerprint information, it's going to be harder to get inside."

"Yeah. Maybe we shot ourselves in the foot by being so gung ho to help out. At least before, Trowa was able to go back in as a nameless soldier."

"It's not like we can't work around it if we have to. But we'll have to rely on what Wufei can tell us. Unless we get another mission, it'll look suspicious for any of us to spend too much time there."

"I suppose I could do it better than any of you. After all, I am the social butterfly of the group." Duo batted his eyes at Heero, who snorted and got up.

"Talk to Howard before you make up your mind. We'll have to come up with a plan when Quatre gets back. I'm going to check on him."

Heero left the room, Duo watching him suspiciously.

"You are, are you?"

Duo scratched his head and laughed.

"Wait til Hilde hears this."

* * *

Lady Une adjusted her spectacles as she signed the last of the most recent reports. She could feel a migraine building behind her eyes. Switching on the MW Oscillator, she let the low tones soothe her nerves. It was amazing how many hours she had worked since they had begun. However it was beginning to pay off as the peace talks proceeded. After this, she looked forward to a nice long vacation. It was hard to let some of the younger commanders take over when she wanted to see everything through to the end.

The sonic waves of the oscillator were disrupted as the door burst open and Wufei and Noin burst in. Noin was clutching a paper and both looked grim.

She stood. "What is going on?"

"Captain. Look at the latest list of candidates on Earth."

Une took the paper and ran down the list. These were all high power people in key places. Nothing looked out of order. They were definitely influential people that Miss Relena would want to...

Une suddenly swayed and her headache got worse. She looked up.

"Are you sure?"

Wufei Nodded. "Our people have already started making contact with the Mideast and African branches since the Earth talks will be in just a few weeks. Quatre Winner is on the list."

"But he's not even actively in charge of Winner Enterprises."

Wufei shrugged. "He's the male heir. He thought he was disinherited, but apparently the paperwork never got done. In that culture, like in mine, he could easily take the reigns again. They still put more weight on the role of the male children than the females. Someone must have decided he was the easiest way to get support from the Winner fortune."

Une hit the com link on her desk.

"Yes, captain?"

"Get me someone in the Africa's division down on Earth."

She looked up while she waited. "We have to stop them now. If they get Quatre, without knowing he's a Gundam Pilot, he could set us back before we can explain."

Wufei and Noin exchanged glances and nodded.

The com crackled with an obviously weaker signal from Earth.

"This is Commander Sidra. May I help you?" The woman was curt, obviously that one one who is overworked and not forgiving of interruptions.

"This is Captain Une from the Preventor force in space."

There was a bit of cursing and shuffling in the background. The woman's voice immediately changed, when she realized who she was talking to.

"Captain Une? This is a pleasant surprise. How can be of service today?"

"We need you to stop processing candidates. Specifically we need you to cancel the processing of Quatre Raberba Winner."

"Of course, Captain," the woman blustered, the sound of rustling and a sharp command in Arabic. "Of course, but may I ask why?"

"Yes. He's actually one of our top agents, in one of our secret services divisions. We have not made contact with him and he must be treated delicately."

A short laugh came from the woman on Earth. "Impossible, captain. With all due respect, I think we're talking about different people. This one is a young, soft-spoken boy. He is a pacifist. Are you sure you mean him?"

"I assure you, we are speaking of the same person. This is precisely why he's in the special division. He must be handled with the utmost care. He's also a Newtype. He will be escorted here when the time comes. Furthermore, I'm surprised that one of my Preventors could be so quick to underestimate someone."

"Yes... I'm sorry." The woman was obviously flustered. There was some more yelling and Egyptian in the background. Wufei listened closely, frowning at the voices in the background. Suddenly the woman cursed in English.

"What's wrong?" Une asked.

"I'm so sorry, Captain. I'm afraid they're processing Quatre Raberba Winner as we speak."

Une rose angrily, placing her hands on her desk as her eyes narrowed. "That's not good. Where is he now?"

"They've taken him to a hospital in Abu Simbel. I'm afraid it may already be done."

Wufei spoke at this point.

"It looks like we'll have to move faster than we planned."

Une pursed her lips. Her headache was roaring now.

"Commander. Please inform the hospital that they must keep Mr. Winner heavily sedated and must not process him yet as he's a special case. I will be sending two of my top agents and a group of doctors there to complete the process. I repeat. Keep him under heavy sedation, and make sure you increase security! He is dangerous."

"Of course... but," the woman interjected, but Une would have none of it.

"That is an order, Commander!"

After a few more details were discussed, Une cut the connection. This did not bode well.

"If they have a Gundam pilot, then I won't feel comfortable unless we have another Gundam Pilot to explain things to him, and to stop him if necessary. If he doesn't know that this is for the peace of the Earth Sphere United Nations and all nations, he could cripple our operation!"

Wufei nodded. "We'll leave immediately. If they keep him sedated, there shouldn't be a problem. I'll be there to handle any issues that might come up during processing. He'll be on our side once I explain what we're doing. Winner wants peace more than anyone. He'll understand."

* * *

In the garage at the winner estates, one of the consoles began beeping. From under a jeep in one of the six bays, Ahmad slid out from under the engine and ran for the monitor. Clicking it on, he stared into the cool eyes of the Japanese guest, Heero Yui.

"Ahmad, when is Quatre supposed to get back?"

Ahmad looked at the schedule Rashid had left him.

"Not til two this afternoon. Why, is something wrong? Do you need anything, master Yui?"

The Japanese boy frowned slightly at the title as he always did. However Rashid's orders were strict. "No. Is there a reason he went alone today?"

Ahmad frowned. "Rashid wouldn't usually allow it, but Dr. Ansari is an old old friend of the family, with his own security detail. We've never sent an escort when Master Quatre visits the hospital. He hates it enough as it is. Rashid even set it up himself."

"Has he checked in? I tried calling him. There's no answer."

The dark man twisted at his mustache nervously. "Well I can keep trying for you, but they were meeting. He probably doesn't wish to be disturbed. Would you like me to call someone at the hospital?"

Heero nodded.

"Let me know what you hear." The communication was cut and Ahmad immediately placed two calls, one to Rashid and the other to the hospital.

* * *

In a small observation booth, two nurses in white watched the window. Down below, the boy who had been brought in was strapped to a metal table. His arms were held down by leather straps. A heart rate monitor beeped steadily and various other monitors on his endocrine system, nervous system and brainwaves were running smoothly.

"Oh!"

"What is it?" The blond nurse of the two looked over at her companion, who's hand was at her chest as she leaned further to look at the boy through the window.

"Did his hand move? I thought I saw it out of the corner of my eye."

The other nurse shook her head in sympathy for her companion. The longer hours were probably affecting her.

"Honey, that's impossible. The monitors would have picked it up."

"Hmmm." She sat back. "I must have seen something in the reflection."

"He's a handsome one," the South African nurse smiled, looking down at the pale blond boy. "And has to be rich if he's here. I wonder if he's got a girlfriend."

The blond woman shook her head and laughed. "Oh girl, he's probably too rich for our blood anyway."

"The tests say he's a Newtype. That's always harder. Maybe I should go and comfort him through the process." The darker girl smiled and pressed her hand up against the glass.

"Uh uh. Your shift is over in half an hour. You're going home to get some rest. You have another double shift tomorrow so don't try to snake your way out of it."

Down in the room, Quatre very carefully opened his eyes a slit. He was still groggy. Though it had been a while since he had gone through this training, he could tell that the various beeps signaling his blood pressure, adrenaline and heart rate had stayed relatively steady. Wiggling imperceptibly, he felt the tension of the straps that held him down. They felt like a standard weight, no metal or extra precautions. That was good. However he wasn't sure he could strain at the straps gradually until they broke as Heero had done. According to Duo, he was able to keep his readings steady even as he worked his wrists out of the straps.

Quatre wasn't that good. He would have to break free suddenly and escape quickly. No one was in the room, so he figured he was being monitored from somewhere else.

Moving his head slightly, he was able to see the one-way glass from which behind he was probably being watched. Definitely he would have to escape quickly. Still, he carefully tested his wrist the strength on the side farther away from the glass. It would break within a few seconds probably. His feet were not bound, which spoke to the lack of knowledge of his captors.

He stilled a bit at voices approaching his door. He needed to wait. He could tell he needed a little bit longer before he would be able to think clearly enough to launch an escape. Whether or not people were inside or outside the room wouldn't matter.

The door banged open and he could hear a cart being wheeled over to the bed. He may have to escape soon. The voices he had heard outside the door were now inside. There were only two. One voice was male, cold and nasal. The other was a woman's voice. Neither sounded rough, nor did he feel any animosity from either one.

"Is he still under?"

"Yes. He's sedated, but not heavily. He could come around within the next 30 minutes."

"That's enough. They don't have to be completely conscious anymore, even the Newtypes. Anyone know that he's missing?"

"He's supposed to be in a meeting until noon. No one should even suspect that he's gone."

"Good. When we explain the process to him, we can let him know what he needs to say. Can I get a pair of gloves?"

Quatre wondered what on earth they meant to explain to him. Who were these people? They felt like doctors. They didn't feel hostile. They couldn't be affiliated with the hospital, could they? And yet Dr. Ansari had known in the car, what was happening. He know now that he couldn't have been out too long. His meeting supposedly hadn't ended yet, which meant it had to be before two o clock. However there was no feeling of malice or ill intent, or even nervousness. For all he could feel he may as well be getting his appendix out.

A gentle hand brushed his hair and he heard some murmuring nearby from the woman that sounded like "so young" but suddenly something cold was being applied to his head. It felt like gel. Were they going to shave his head?

He decided he couldn't wait. Whatever they were going to do to him, they were going to do now.

The man who was close, jumped back in fear as blue eyes shot open, meeting his gaze, clearly and coldly. In his alarm, the man hit the metal tray and it and all the tools it held clattered to the ground in a cacophony of noise and confusion. Quatre quickly yanked his hands from his restraints, not even registering the damage to his wrists as he did so. The woman screamed as he jumped off the bed and pushed it toward them, running for the door.

"Mr. Winner, please. We can explain!" The man was yelling even as Quatre bolted out the door.

A security guard was already running toward the noise as Quatre ran out.

"Help!" he wailed. "There's a man with a gun in there."

The security guard was obviously inexperienced as he pushed past this pale looking patient in the hospital gown, not even noticing the boy's bloodstained wrists. As he reached for his gun, he stopped a moment, realizing it was no longer in its holster. Bursting through the door, a tall nasal doctor pointed at Quatre, who was already disappearing around the corner. 

"Stop that patient!"

Quatre flew down the stairwell, exiting on the second floor and heading for the service elevator. He hit the down button, but when the elevator didn't come right away, he headed down the hall and ducked into an empty room.

In the quiet of the room, he leaned up against the wall, trying to focus. The adrenaline had helped him to move quickly but he was still quite fuzzy from the drugs. He no longer had his watch so he had no way of immediately contacting home. Looking around, he found that this room was indeed a laundry room and he quickly donned some emergency scrubs, discarding the flimsy hospital gown. He would have to hope that he could make it to the first floor without being seen. He really didn't want to flash a firearm in a hospital or take any hostages if possible.

Quatre's eyes slipped closed for a minute as a roaring began to sound in his ears. At first he thought the drugs were just messing with his system, but no... it was something else. In horror, he realized that his head was tingling and warm. His eyes began to sting and he reached a hand up, to feel the wet substance that was now running down the back of his head and through the fine strands of his hair, spreading almost as if it had a life of its own. Suddenly he realized that the substance he had felt hadn't been prep for a surgery. It had been the purpose. Inside his head, he could almost feel his thoughts and decisions changing subtly on their own. He tried to focus, but it didn't work and his head began to ache from his fighting... whatever it was. He had no time. He had to get out now.

Grabbing a cloth from the hamper next to him, he desperately tried to rub the substance off of his head, but it didn't matter. His head was starting to scream and he could no longer even trust that his thoughts were his own. What on earth had they done to him? His focus honed and he realized that he had to get back to the Winner complex, back to Heero and Duo. Now.

He was startled as a voice came over the loudspeaker.

"Attention. We have an escaped patient. He's young with blond hair. He may be dangerous and unstable. Secure all stations. If you see this patient, notify someone immediately."

Quatre gulped and tried to stop the screaming in his head. His vision swam and then cleared. When he looked up, he realized how he would get out of here.

He swallowed, panting and in pain and gulped hard as his stomach churned. Then he grabbed a sheet and climbed into the laundry shoot, leaving the gun behind.

* * *

Dr. Ansari and the two doctors who had treated the blond headed quickly toward the front.

"Have all the doors been secured?" The older gentleman asked worriedly.

"Yes. But this is impossible. He was heavily drugged. There's no way..."

"I agree. He's just a young boy. Someone must have gotten the dosage wrong. We'll deal with that later. For now, I'm terribly worried. The poor boy is probably terrified. I'll talk to him first. Make sure that no one harms him. He is very important to this establishment, and to the peace."

"Of course," the nasal man replied. "We've already notified the Preventors."

"Good, good."

"Dr. Ansari!"

A short nurse with blond hair rushed up to the group. She was worried and fearful. She handed Dr. Ansari a printout.

"They tried to contact us. He's a special case. They wanted us to wait."

The doctor studied the paper and his eyes widened.

"Impossible," he said hoarsely.

Just then the sound of a motor outside drew their attention.

"It's him!"

Looking through the window of the third floor, they saw a motorcycle roar out of the parking lot. The older man sat roughly. The taller doctor sniffed.

"Should we call the police?"

Dr. Ansari shook his head. "No. Call the Preventors. We'll need a warrant. Sending the police would be useless now."


	10. Strength of Heart Arc Chapter 9

Title: Strength of Heart

Author: Caer

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Eventual Yaoi, Action, Adventure

Pairings: 1x4

Status: Work in progress (part 10)

Disclaimer: This is simply fanfiction. I don't own this anime and I'm not making any money. It's just for fun.

* * *

Heero poured over the information that had been sent to Quatre for the second time, this time, paying special attention to any clues as to the dates of when Quatre would have his reported "attacks". A small knot of tension was building up in his stomach as he realized that Quatre may have always been sensitive in such a way to the other pilots. However, the information was too vague. There weren't many exact dates to go on. Still, there were two or three entries where Heero could distinctly remember a time when he was injured that could possibly coincide with Quatre's attacks. But there was no definitive proof. Was it because they came from the same lab? Or did Quatre's bonds form after he met them?

It bothered Heero to think that Quatre could be so deeply affected by what happened to him. In a way it was annoying. He had never mattered. He was just a soldier. Life was cheap. And yet... now he kept thinking of what could happen to Quatre if he died, or was seriously hurt. It wasn't his fault that Quatre felt what he felt... and yet he felt a deep sense of guilt for possibly hurting the blond however unintended.

However, inside, Heero could also feel a deep stirring of something. It was like a mixture of relief as well as concern. There was something deeply satisfying about the fact that he now had a responsibility for someone else. He realized how desperately he needed a purpose. He felt adrift without an anchor. Perhaps he had always been that way. He had no family and no friends up until recently. He had nothing to hang onto.

His missions had been his purpose and his life. When there were no more missions, it was Relena. Now without her, he wondered if he had shifted that responsibility to Quatre somehow. He wondered if perhaps his recent attraction to the blond was just his way of fooling himself and Quatre. Quatre was solid, holding on to him and keeping him from spinning out of control.

He didn't really know what he was feeling right now. He couldn't expect Quatre to just step in and fill the gap that Relena had left behind. He also didn't want to think he was using Quatre as a crutch. Quatre deserved more than that. At the same time, it was comforting to know that somewhere out there, someone was thinking of him. Quatre cared about everyone, of course, but to know that someone was so intimately connected to you as to feel your pain. There was something ultimately soothing about that. No matter what happened, Heero wasn't alone.

He wondered if Quatre was.

* * *

"Are these the new Gundams?"

"Yeah."

Duo stood behind Howard who was seated at the vid screen in the downstairs lab. His excitement was palpable and Duo suddenly realized that Heero had sent him to talk to Howard for a reason. He knew that Howard would immediately want to come on board, threat or no threat. It didn't matter whether Quatre was right or not. Howard was a Gundam mechanic. It was his raison d'etre so to speak. Howard lived ate and breathed mobiles. Of course he would want to be a part of it. Damn that guy. Just when Duo thought he had him figured out, he realized that Heero knew him better.

"The new designs are amazing. They're a little smaller than I would want them, but the mobility is outstanding."

"Howard..."

"With a little work I could probably increase the power on each by at least 5-10."

"Howard..."

"What?"

"Howard, you're sick. I thought we were supposed to be relaxing and having fun and helping you to get better."

"This is my idea of fun, Duo. What am I supposed to just lay down and accept it?"

"Of course not, but... I just don't think it's a good idea to stress yourself out that way."

"Are you kidding yourself, Duo? Even I can tell you're excited. Don't tell me you don't want to fly one of these babies."

"But it could mean serious trouble. Quatre is playing with fire. We're supposed to be at peace."

"We are. But someone has to defend that peace. Legally, he's in the clear. The Maguanacs aren't part of ESUN yet. As an outside party, they technically aren't breaking any rules."

"But if we're harboring weapons, aren't we just going against that peace?"

"Duo, what's wrong? You're a pilot. I can see you're excited about the Gundams. You can't practically be raised in a cockpit and suddenly not be interested in flying again, so what's the deal? It seems like a great opportunity for both of us!"

Duo gritted his teeth and flopped down on the bed.

"I don't know! It's just... I was starting to get used to life with Hilde. I don't think it's our place to get involved in this again, Howard. Part of me wants to fly again, but the other part of me just wants to give the responsibility back to the adults. I guess I just want to be a kid for a while... even if I'm hardly a kid anymore."

Howard leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.

"Yeah I guess I can see where you're coming from. I suppose, I'm on the opposite side. Getting a chance to work with these new Gundams makes me feel like a kid again."

"Yeah, I feel that too! I just don't know what to do." Duo blew some hair out of his face. "I'm worried about Quatre too. He still feels guilty for the things he did back when he built Zero. He's scared to death to let go and I wonder if that's healthy."

"Duo, If the wars started all over again, and you could have stopped them but you didn't want to get involved, how would you feel?"

Inwardly, Duo cursed Heero again, for knowing what would happen. They all thought that Quatre was the manipulative strategist, but Heero was really the sneaky one. Duo felt ghosts of feelings he had the first time he found that Heero had sabotaged Deathscythe to repair Wing.

"Tricky bastard," he growled.

* * *

"Strange," Rashid said. Ahmad and Heero were currently on the garage vidcom. "Dr. Ansari is an old family friend. The Winner family has worked with him since before Master Quatre was born. But I've tried to call as well. Master Quatre never ignores multiple calls. Master Yui, do you sense something?"

Rashid's knowing look once again put Heero of slightly, and the boy inclined his head, frowning.

"Maybe. I can't reach him using the Preventor's emergency signal either. He wouldn't ignore that."

"Very well. I would come there immediately, but I'm days away. We can't risk flying from here for now."

"We'll contact you as soon as we know where Master Quatre is," Ahmad promised.

Rashid nodded. "I will continue trying to get through to him as well. Call some of the corps in if you need help."

Heero clicked off the com. Ahmad immediately punched in another number.

"If we need to move fast, we may need help. I'll also send someone to the hospital to nose around."

"Hey Heero!" Duo came out from the house, wincing as a wave of desert heat hit him. "You win. It looks like we're going to..."

They both stilled as they heard the sound of a motor. Over the ridge, a motorcycle appeared, a trail of desert dust kicking up behind it. Heero reached for his gun as it neared, but he faltered as he recognized the rider, as well as the erratic pattern of the bike's movement... as if it could barely stay on the road.

They could make out the blond of Quatre's hair as he got off a bike they had never seen. They both squinted as they tried to see him through the waves of afternoon heat. He was obviously not wearing the suit he had left in that morning. Heero and Duo started toward him as he got off the bike. They broke into a run, however when he faltered and began to sway, taking a few hesitant steps away from the bike.

"Quatre!" Duo yelled and they increased their speed, catching him just as his legs gave out beneath him.

He gasped and shook, a hand to his head. He seemed to be in terrible pain.

"Jesus, Quatre, your hands!" Duo held the boys wrists in his own and Heero looked down from where he held Quatre's shoulders to see blood streaming down over Duo's fingers from Quatre's wrists. He tightened his grip on the blond and ducked his head to catch Quatre's eyes, which were closed tightly in pain.

"Quatre, were you followed? What happened?"

Blue green eyes opened, and he looked up at Heero, and then around him shaky and confused as if he just realized he wasn't moving anymore. Immediately, he gripped Heero's shoulder and Duo's wrist.

"Heero?" He whispered and then stronger, "Heero!" he cried almost desperately. He met Heero's eyes, but his own were cloudy and confused. They kept darting to the side, before he looked directly at the Japanese boy.

"Heero, there are voices... I..." He winced in pain.

"Tell us what happened, Quatre."

Quatre swallowed and his eyes darted for a moment back up the road, but he didn't answer.

"Master!"

Ahmad was running toward them, already on the cordless phone. "Dr. Ansari just called. He says Quatre had some kind of seizure. They want to come see him."

Quatre whimpered and broke Duo's and Heero's hold on him, running inside. Duo went to follow, but Heero's hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks.

"Ahmad, tell him Quatre isn't here but we're looking for him. He's lying."

"Yeah," Duo agreed.

"Follow Duo while he dumps the bike. Make sure no one's coming. If it takes you more than ten minutes, check in every ten minutes until you're back."

Duo gave one last look at the front door, worried, before looking back at Heero and nodding, his violet eyes hardening.

"Right, c'mon Ahmad."

He climbed on the bike and messed with the wires until it started again. Heero turned to Ahmad,

"If someone were to come this way, how easily could we escape?"

Ahmad licked his lips as he thought.

"The plane is the quickest way out of here. But I wouldn't worry yet. This is Maguanac territory. They can't enter this property without some pretty strong paperwork. You have at least a few hours. Even if someone showed up, you could take off before they could get through the gates at the front."

"I'll call Rashid and tell him what's happened, set the perimeter security to high and then come find us."

Ahmad nodded and ran to grab a car to follow Duo. Heero started inside quickly, already dialing Rashid's number.

* * *

"He escaped?" Wufei was hardly surprised. Quatre was a Gundam Pilot after all.

"Unfortunately we weren't in time. A Dr. Ansari is trying right now to contact Quatre. The story so far is he had a seizure They're trying to get him back to the hospital."

"Then there's nothing we can do, except mitigate the damage. I'll see if I can call and keep him in one place until we get there. However, Trowa, Duo and Heero are all supposed to be meeting him in Egypt. If they get wind, I don't think I can keep them there."

"We'll authorize a small army for you if we have to."

"Even that may not be enough, but I'll take it if necessary. The Maguanacs wouldn't let Quatre go without a fight. We're better off convincing them to come to the preventors. In the meantime I'll try to convince them to stay put until I get there."

"Thank you, Preventor Chang. I'll wait to hear from you."

Wufei sighed as he shut the vidcom off. He and a contingent of doctors and scientists were currently flying one of the Preventor's private space planes down to earth. They were authorized to land right in Abu Simbel, at the hospital's main runway, but even then, they would have to wait for permission to enter Maguanac territory. His only hope was to get in with Quatre's permission and then explain what had happened. If he wasn't able to reach them in time

* * *

Heero found Quatre in the bathroom upstairs, the smell of vomit assailing his nose as he entered. He had informed Rashid of what had happened. If the man could have jumped through the phone, he would have. However he was still at the desert base, handling the remaining work on the Gundams. Heero had promised to call again as soon as everyone was back in the mansion. Rashid had also seemed astonished that this Dr. Ansari person might have been involved in any way, but if Heero's suspicion was correct, it was entirely possible.

Quatre was face down on the seat of the toilet, one hand reaching up to flush it weakly before he collapsed, breathing harshly and swallowing painfully, holding his head. Heero quickly wet a towel and knelt down.

"Quatre, what happened?" he asked quietly. He got no response though as Quatre moved off the toilet to throw up into it. At this point he wasn't bringing anything up. He just continued to dry-heave. Heero put a hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down," he said quietly, but with authority. Quatre seemed to hear this and took a couple of deep breaths before resting his arm across the toilet, his head on top of it and his other hand clutching his head. He gasped and stared at the side of the sink, his eyes glazed and unseeing. Heero tried again.

"Quatre, report."

Still nothing. Heero leaned down and grabbed Quatre's hair gently, forcing the boy to look at him.

"Quatre." A slight tremor in his own voice belied his worry, surprising him.

Quatre looked at him, his eyes showing a hint of recognition and finally, they locked on Heero's eyes. He opened his mouth to speak.

"Shit!" Heero exclaimed and reached out and caught the boy as his eyes rolled back into his head and he slid off the toilet, banging his head on the corner of the cabinet. Heero rolled him over and lifted him gently carrying him to the bed, the wet towel still warm in his hands. He carefully washed Quatre's face and neck off, gritting his teeth every time the boy whimpered at the pain of the motion he was causing. He sat at the edge of the bed and massaged Quatre's temples gently, watching his friend with concern. The blond lashes fluttered and Quatre opened his eyes. In a panic he tried to sit up, but Heero held him down. Quatre struggled for a minute in his arms, eyes squeezed shut and panicked.

"Quatre! Calm down!" Heero finally ordered. Quatre froze, looking up at Heero and finally seemed to understand where he was. He froze and let Heero lower him back to the bed. The blond closed his eyes again, his chest rising and falling rapidly in pain.

"Breath Quatre." Heero said, relieved as the blond complied. He stroked Quatre's forehead a couple of times before sliding his hand to the back of Quatre's neck and working his pressure points to ease some of the pain. "Now can you tell me what happened?"

Quatre keened softly, then quieted as Heero pressed at his neck, dulling the pain in his head. He shook his head, trying to speak.

"They… gassed the car. Couldn't get out," he flung an arm over his head, covering his eyes. "I woke up and… and… I'm not sure." He sighed in frustration. "There was screaming in my head, but I wasn't screaming. They had strapped me down. They didn't seem dangerous, but... I finally got out… I came here. I..."

There were noises on the stairs, and Heero pulled his gun just in case, turning to the door. Fortunately it was Duo who appeared in the doorway, his face grim.

"Whoever was after him is long gone if they were even chasing him at all. I checked the roads. There's no one there. Is he okay?" Duo approached and looked at the flushed blond with concern. Quatre's eyes were closed, but he nodded.

"I'm… okay," he forced out. Heero ran a hand through the blond hair, pushing it off his forehead. Then he froze, looking closer.

"Duo go find a comb and some sort of container"

Duo complied quickly, also bringing some aspirin and a glass of water. Heero carefully sifted through Quatre's hair, picking something out. When it dropped into the bowel, it looked like grayish sludge. Duo held the bowl obediently, grimacing as it filled, reaching a shaky hand to comb through the blond hair and pull some of the strange looking material out himself.

"What the hell is it?"

"It's all over his scalp," Heero said. "You should take it downstairs. Quatre has a rudimentary lab down there. You can at least take a look."

"What are you going to do?"

Heero leaned down to whisper to the blond.

"Quatre..." he said gently. The blond shakily looked up, meeting his gaze. He looked crazed and lost and unspeakably tired. "We have to get you cleaned up okay?"

Quatre nodded, wincing as he did. He barely seemed to know where he was. Weaving a supporting arm under Quatre's arms and around his back, Heero helped him off the bed and gently guided him toward the bathroom.

Duo watched them curiously. Remembering that the braided pilot was still standing there, Heero stopped, looking back.

"Duo. Go look at that stuff. I'm going to get the rest of it off. Then I'll come take a look."

Duo hesitated only a minute, wondering at what he was seeing. He had never seen Heero this way with anyone... even Relena. Quickly, he decided that now was not the time to dwell on it.

"Right," he said and headed downstairs with the bowl of grayish goop they had picked from Quatre's hair.

* * *

In the small garage on L2, Hilde Schbeiker lay underneath an old jeep, draining the oil so she could replace the oil pan. Duo had fallen in love with the piece of junk, but Hilde had grown attached to it as well. It was great for hauling scrap and it had its own charm, even with the holes in the floor and the worn through seats. Duo had been meaning to repair it for months now. She figured it was more likely to happen if she just did it herself so here she was in old overalls and covered in oil and grease.

She wiped her wrench on her pants and had just rolled out from under the vehicle, when she heard a voice.

"Hello? Anybody home?"

Standing, Hilde saw a tall dark man walking up the drive. She assessed him carefully. He was a big guy, but his demeanor didn't seem threatening. Still, she didn't drop the wrench and walked out to meet him.

"Just me. Can I help you?"

The man smiled broadly. "I certainly hope so, ma'am. We're looking for Duo Maxwell."

"We?"

"It's important we find him," a soft voice said.

Hilde almost had a heart attack when another man approached her from the side. Apparently he had been at the front door. He looked dangerous, but familiar as well. Hilde tilted her head, before her eyes widened in recognition.

"Mr. Peacecraft?"

He smiled and she relaxed a little. Though now she was curious.

"Duo said you've been missing."

"The Preventors can no longer be trusted. We're trying to get to him before they do."

Hilde wiped her hand on her greasy outfit and held her hand out to the other man.

"I'm Hilde Schbeiker."

The dark man smiled, taking her hand in his.

"My name is Mbeki."

"Duo's not here. He went to Australia with Howard on vacation. After that he was going to go see Quatre, but I don't know if he's there yet. He called a couple of days ago. Duo said that something strange was going on too. You could just call him."

"It's not that easy," Zechs replied. "I can't risk opening a channel to any of them. The preventors are looking for me. They're already scanning all signals the Preventors use. I'm not the only one in danger though. They'll be going for the pilots soon, if they haven't already gotten to them."

"Already? What do you mean? I want to help!"

"That's good to hear, miss. We fear they may go after you and others soon in order to get the pilots."

"How do you know about them?" She was completely confused now.

"There's a lot to explain."

"Then you had better come inside," Hilde insisted. Mbeki nodded. "I'll check around."

"Check for what?" Hilde asked. Zechs guided her by the back toward the door. "There are already people watching. We have to be very careful."

Hilde bit her lip. Now she was worried.

* * *

Quatre wasn't able to even hold himself up, so Heero removed both of their shirts and sat him on the floor of the shower, against his legs while he sat on the tile seat. With Quatre's head draped over his leg, he washed Quatre's hair thoroughly, sifting through the strands carefully and removing any trace he could see of the foreign substance. Quatre panted quietly against his leg, fighting back the urge to throw up several times. When Heero was finally satisfied that his hair, scalp and bloodied wrists were clean, he hefted the boy to his feet, taking him to the sink and allowing him to rinse his mouth out before sliding him back into bed.

"Any better?" He asked softly and was rewarded with a nod, though the boy's eyes were still shut tightly. He shut the curtains and lifted Quatre by the shoulders for a minute, making him take the aspirin Duo had left earlier. Returning to the bed, he smoothed Quatre's wet bangs away from his head before turning to leave. A weakened hand grabbed his own.

"Heero. They'll come after me. I have to..." Pain filled green eyes looked up at him.

"Just rest. We'll handle it.

"You believe me, don't you?" He clutched at Heero's arm. His eyes were wild and he seemed very unsure at that moment and Heero immediately reacted by putting a hand on the blond hair and touching his forehead to Quatre's. "I believe you. Don't worry. Just sleep."

Quatre nodded and his eyes slipped shut. Heero was loathe to break the contact though.

"It was like..." Quatre swallowed. "Heero, it was just like... zero, except..."

"Except what?" Heero almost whispered.

It was no good. Quatre's head fell to the side. He had simply lost consciousness. Adrenaline had probably been the only thing keeping him conscious until now.

Heero left the room, very disturbed. Pieces were starting to fall into place and he didn't like where they were landing. He had a very bad feeling that Duo would confirm his feelings. Duo was in the lab, looking at the screen, Howard beside him. They immediately looked up as Heero entered the room.

"Is he okay?"

"As okay as he can be. He passed out. What did you find."

"It's not good," Howard said , typing in a command. The screen zoomed and Heero was able to see organisms in the gray of the sludge. He looked closely.

"Nanotechnology," he stated, unsurprised.

"Right. And look at how fast they're breaking down. It's biotechnology. Not my league at all. We froze the rest, because they're deteriorating so quickly. We need an expert to look at this. But the way these are breaking down, we'll be lucky if there's anything left. We need someone in the field to..."

The vid screen was beeping and Heero saw Trowa's signature code. He immediately pulled it up. Trowa looked grim.

"Heero, I'm in Dubai. Is everything alright?"

It wasn't really a question. Trowa knew something had happened.

"No. Quatre isn't feeling well," Heero mouthed the word 'attacked' silently. Trowa nodded. It was an encrypted signal. If anyone was spying, they would most likely be audio only.

"Is he okay?"

"He needs a doctor. But he doesn't trust the doctors here."

Trowa nodded, understanding Heero's message.

"I have someone here that may be able to help. We can be there in two hours. Can you wait?"

Heero mentally assessed the situation. Deciding they would have to, he nodded.

"Hurry. We may have to leave as soon as you get here. If we're not here, we'll contact you with a new meeting place.

"Understood. We'll be there soon."

The vid clicked off and Duo met Heero's eyes. There was no more doubt. Whether the Gundams were needed or not, something was now officially up.


	11. Strength of Heart Arc Chapter 10

Title: Strength of Heart

Author: Caer

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Eventual Yaoi, Action, Adventure

Pairings: 1x4

Status: Work in progress (part 10)

Disclaimer: This is simply fanfiction. I don't own this anime and I'm not making any money. It's just for fun. Like that wasn't obvious. Still.

Nother long talky chapter, but some cool stuff as we go. Hope you like it!! Please let me know if you see anything huge like plot holes. I have the previous chapters from 6 to 9 beta'd but I have yet to post the corrections. I'll be working on that next.

So many happy and grateful thank yous to my wonderful Beta reader, Kasra. You are so wonderful to keep doing this even with your busy busy life.

Thank you as usual to all those of you who stick with me through everything. I hope that this meets your expectations and story wants. Really, you don't know how much your continued reading and feedback means to me.

* * *

"This is insane. I mean okay we knew something was up but mind control?"

Heero was seated at one of the computer screens, typing as they talked, pulling up data while storing it on the highest capacity movable drives available.

"Hey Howard," he said, not even breaking from his work on the computer. "Did you ever hear of a project called the ELF-MOC Initiative?"

Howard nodded. "Sure I do. I'm surprised you would even know about it. It was top secret, but highly controversial at the time."

Duo snorted. "Howard, you should know by now. Nothing is top secret to Heero Yui. You should see the things he's been able to get from government data stores."

"I see," Howard said, impressed. "Well it was a long time ago, but the project was eventually canned after someone was caught using it on prisoners. But they used the same technology for other advances, mostly medical."

"And the Zero system."

"Right," Howard acknowledged.

"Oh no, that system again," Duo sighed. "So what was it," He asked reluctantly. He really hated anything to do with ZERO with a passion. The fact that Heero and Quatre were able to control it both impressed him and worried him. He viewed the system with nothing but revulsion.

Heero turned the screen toward them both.

"An old program called HAARP started it. Radio frequencies that were created to manipulate weather patterns was eventually tested on the human brain. It was created by the military in the hopes of being able to attack large populations of people from far away and change their thought patterns. It was eventually classified with chemical warfare, and only advanced slowly. Eventually, they wanted to use it for mind control. ELF-MOC was the hybrid attempt."

"Right. They wanted to use it to control soldiers. They wanted to remove any compassion the soldier might feel and allow them to follow orders completely while removing any responsibility the soldier would have for war crimes. Extremely low frequency is what Zero uses to feed information directly to the pilot's brain."

Duo grimaced, and he didn't miss the look of distaste on the faces of the others.

"They wanted to control the soldiers?" Duo said. "There's a shocker."

"Yeah," Heero said. "But they had to abandon it. The program was expensive and they started testing it on humans before it was approved. The outrage it caused shut the program down for good. They never picked back up. They might have been able to continue it if they hadn't been hasty. Ultimately they were looking for emotionless soldiers."

Duo watched Heero closely, but the boy merely twitched and glared at him when he felt violet eyes scrutinizing him.

"As far as we know," Howard finished. "Obviously Zero was still being pursued by some of the top military scientists, but if if the mind control program was continued, it was hidden."

"There were a few attempts in various countries that were discovered, but they were all quickly snuffed out before they got far." Heero confirmed.

"So what does it stand for? ELF-MOC."

"Extreme Low Frequency Military Ops Conformance."

"So you think that's what they tried to do to Quatre?"

"That's my best guess." Heero said quietly, and Duo could see Heero's eyes pinch momentarily with worry. It was almost imperceptible, but he had spent enough time with the boy now, both undercover and in school to notice these things. It took a practiced eye to be sure.

"The question is, did they go after him because he's a Gundam Pilot? Or because he's the Winner heir?" Howard asked, drawing them both back to the conversation at hand.

"If it was the former, they sure did a lousy job." Duo pointed out.

"Duo's right. If they had known he was a pilot, they would have been far more cautious. He would have been locked up and heavily guarded. The fact that he escaped with such ease, means they probably weren't expecting him to fight back."

"Who would? Quatre looks about as dangerous as a kitten," Duo's eyes sparkled, as he saw a glint of amusement in Heero's returning gaze.

"But why? And who?" Howard added, expecting no answer.

Heero rose, heading for the door.

"I'm going to check on Quatre."

"No need," a weak voice said entering the room. Quatre supported himself against the doorway. He was pale and sweaty, but seemed at least to be more lucid than he had been.

"Quatre," Duo stood. "Are you okay?"

Quatre shook his head, a shaky hand going to support it. "Not really."

"You should rest," Heero said quietly. He caught Quatre's arm and guided him to a chair.

"I tried," Quatre said quietly, not needing to verify that it hadn't worked. "We'll need to leave here soon." Quatre said with a certainty that concerned Heero. "Have you talked to Rashid?"

"He knows what happened, but he's waiting for us before he leaves." Heero said. "He wants to come here. He's worried."

Quatre shook his head, slowly, wincing at the movement. "He can't right now. He needs to stay with the Gundams. We can't risk too much movement from that base right now."

"Quatre, did you hear anything? Did they give you any information?"

"No," Quatre sighed. "They didn't say anything. But Dr. Ansari told me... that I would understand. He's always been very compassionate, and he would be against something like this. He couldn't have been doing what he was doing of his own free will... I think. He felt... strange. I didn't notice it because when people are preoccupied or worried, that's how they feel. I try not to pry."

"So they were controlling him too," Duo said. "Whoever they were."

"It would make sense that they would go after him though," Heero said. "Dr. Ansari is a highly connected doctor. I've checked his history. He has connections with government, health officials and the extremely wealthy."

"Including Quatre."

"Right," Heero looked at the blond with concern. He was staring at the table wearily. He obviously didn't want to deal with any of this, but they had no choice.

"So what is the plan?" Duo asked. "They'll come after Quatre again. He can't stay here."

"No. We'll have to leave," Quatre agreed. "I have a few options that are funded outside of WEI at this point. i don't want anyone tracing us through my family."

"Trowa is on his way, Quatre. We can leave as soon as he gets here. It should be a couple of hours. If we need to go sooner, he's ready to meet us where we ask."

"Okay. We'll need to get all of you access to some of my accounts in case we get split up." He pressed his hands against the table shakily and moved to get up.

"Quatre. Just give me the information. I'll do the work."

Quatre was about to protest, but instead, nodded gratefully and sat back down.

"Okay," Duo said. "But where do we go?"

"L2," Quatre said. "It's easier to disappear and they'd be less likely to look for me there." Quatre said with certainty.

"Yeah. Who would look for a rich boy in my digs?" Duo said. Quatre looked at him with alarm, and apology already on his lips, but Duo grinned, waving his hands to let him know there was no personal offense taken.

"We still have to figure out who's doing it. Where did this start? How widespread is it? And why?"

"We have to stop research from here. We can't do anything until we're off the radar."

"Or maybe," Duo edged, "We should tell the proper authorities and let someone else handle it for once?"

At 3 identical looks, Duo sighed and put a hand on his neck. "Yeah I thought not. Why does this stuff always fall to us again?"

"Duo," Quatre said quietly. "I hate to say it but what I felt with Dr. Ansari? I think I felt it with Noin too."

"Quatre, are you sure?" Heero asked.

"No. But it wasn't just that she was lying. I think. She had the same feeling. I thought it was because Zechs had disappeared, but now..."

"Right! It started with Zechs... if you think about it!" Duo said emphatically. "Do you think he could be behind all of this?"

"Zechs would definitely be against something like that."

"Unless he's already part of it." Quatre said weakly. Heero frowned. "Zechs had the highest security clearance. He would be a perfect target for infiltration."

"But it doesn't make sense," Howard argued. "If the Preventors are involved, they would have known that Quatre is a Gundam Pilot."

Heero spoke.

"It's useless to speculate. For now, we need to decide what we need to do, starting with erasing what we can of any public data out there on our recent activities. We need to disappear and head for space. Until Trowa gets here, I can work on wiping some of the data remotely. Duo, you have connections in L2 that can help us?"

Duo nodded. "Can't get in touch with them here though. We'll have to get to L2 first."

"We'll leave as soon as Trowa arrives," Quatre said. "I'll have Ahmed prep the jet. We can fly to Dubai space port. Once we're there, we can use the Winner shuttle to get us somewhere in space where we can easily disappear. The Winners use the shuttle often. I'm sure I can get one of my sisters to return it here."

"Let's get started," Heero said.

* * *

Hilde sat at a small vid screen inside a equally small freighter, rapidly scrolling through about two hundred pictures as well as a long report. She had long since given up trying to read everything as the report was dreadfully long. It was also immeasurably nauseating. She had never been privy to something this horrific, even in the army. Unfortunately she had not seen much in the way of battle until she was trying desperately to escape barge(?). She had seen wounded, but she had never been on the field, or seen the actual events occurring. But this was beyond the pale. This was unacceptable at any level. He stomach churned involuntarily.

"Would you like some water, Miss Hilde?"

She reached out gratefully, he hands shaking, much to her chagrin. Mbeki patted her hand comfortingly and met her gaze with a steady, friendly eye, which calmed her somewhat. He moved and took a seat across from her and next to Zechs. As far as she could tell, they were the only three on the ship. It was on autopilot, heading toward L3. Zechs observed her with his cool ice blue eyes. His gaze was a lot like Heero's. It held her. It was neither friendly or unfriendly, but hawkish and assessing. After reading what they had given her, she could understand why.

"How?" She said faintly. "How could anyone justify that?"

"It has been done before. No country is a stranger to rot from the inside," Mbeki replied softly. "Most of the time it is done under the guise of a greater good. No country is innocent of it. It starts out small and then spreads like a weed. It is no different now."

"Hilde shivered."

"And you truly believe the Preventors are part of it?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Mbeki confirmed. "We have enough evidence to confirm that. It also makes strategic sense. The Preventors are highly trusted right now. They are a powerful organization that has branched out. The countries accept them in the name of non proliferation and peace."

"But how did you find out?"

"The Preventors were never completely trusted," Mbeki said. "Several intelligence units from different countries and colonies are still working unofficially. Though the Alliance has worked with many countries to minimize the martial branches of the secret services, the intelligence agencies have remained active, both formally and informally. We have agents both within the Preventors and within the major governments still. A few of our agents have sent us disturbing communications concerning recent events. Eventually, we were able to infiltrate one of their moving labs. Sadly, he was captured, and our whole organization was compromised. Fortunately, we took precautions and were able to regroup."

Zechs continued the story. "I still have ties to White Fang. After some confusing messages, Mbeki's group cleared me and told me what was happening. Once I got some of the details, I realized that the Preventors had been compromised."

"How did you find out? What gave it away?" Hilde asked desperately, searching her memory for anything strange Duo had said or done. After all, he was a Preventor special agent. Was he already a part of it?"

"They began compartmentalizing in strange ways," Zechs said. "They started reclassifying information. I started seeing small gaps in my access. I had the highest access because of my rank. However, I realized that there were sections that I could see, but no longer had the proper securities for. They claimed they were merely archiving information and that I would have access, but they were vague on why. It was almost like they were starting a new shielded system within the system we were using. It was so gradual, I didn't realize I was being kept out. I didn't think much of it at the time since we were updating a lot of our old systems. Of course, lower ranks didn't even notice since their access was limited to begin with."

"So how did you know he wasn't part of it?" She asked Mbeki.

"Of course, we gave him a full medical examination. However, we also were able to discover that high functioning Newtypes are especially difficult to assimilate."

Of course Hilde had learned a little about Newtypes in the academy. It was described as unexplained gifts and talents that the colonists had, but that people from Earth didn't. Unfortunately, there was a lot of propaganda attached to it, since the Colonies believed themselves to be superior to Earth. It had certainly been used in the military to convince soldiers that the colonies were suppressed because of the Earth's fear of their superiority and therefore they must defend themselves and maintain their freedom from the Earth.

A lot of her teachers and colleagues had merely passed it off as nonsense. Some had simply explained it a scientific change in subtle functions of the human body based on birth in space and differences in gravity. There were plenty of studies that pointed out differences between Earth physiology and space physiology, but nothing incredibly different. There were even some studies that demonstrated a heightened awareness in some classified as Newtypes. Some seemed to have extra sensory perception that was not found as often in the people of Earth. Most people didn't believe it however, or simply explained it as being like an animal's sense of the weather, or some animals' abilities to sense oncoming storms or seizures.

However it was well known that colonists tended to be stronger pilots due to their increased ability in lower gravities and their general tolerance. It was also true that being born and living in space tended to cultivate a hardier stock of human. However that came with a higher rate of death during childbirth and many health problems that had been rare on Earth.

Though she had believed for a while that the colonies were superior, she had quickly dismissed that as arrogance, and had chosen instead to fight for what she thought at the time was peace and freedom. Since then, she hadn't given a lot of thought to it. It However Duo was different enough to make her revisit these beliefs. His abilities, and those of the Gundam pilots seemed not just increased, as most who were classified as Newtypes, but almost super-human. When she had questioned him, he would roll his eyes and tell her that it was all a bunch of nonsense, and that as pilots, they had been exposed to a lot of intense training.

Duo didn't like to talk about it. Even with his seemingly cocky attitude and his competitive demeanor, he didn't like to be thought of or seen as special. Being someone who was supposed to be able to melt into a crowd and infiltrate, this made sense. It also seemed to bother him a bit, so she tried not to bring it up.

However she had noticed other things. He almost never got sick. When she told him so, he would simply say that he grew up on L2, and probably had an immune system of iron due to being overexposed to so many filthy environments and germs. Of course, there was his superior piloting abilities, which he would always explain by saying that he just had a "knack" for it. He admitted that he had a higher bone density and that he was able to handle more physical trauma than most people, but again he said it was simply because of all they had been put through in training.

But there were other things. For one thing, he had talked about Quatre's uncanny sense of the other pilots. In fact, Duo had said a lot of things about the other pilots that seemed extraordinary. However he said it with such an air of frank admiration, that it didn't really seem supernatural. He just seemed to think they were exceptional. But Duo was exceptional too. He was the best pilot she had ever seen.

"So Newtypes like you and Duo aren't able to be assimilated at all?"

Both men looked grim.

"These experiments were on Newtypes only. It seems like the technology was already successful on regular people. The difficulties began when they started trying to use the technology on Newtypes which there are quite a few of in the Preventors, including Lady Une. As far as I can tell they've been successful in assimilating her. I think Noin was also taken. I'm almost sure they were preparing for me next."

"So that's why you disappeared," Hilde breathed. Zechs nodded ascent. She leaned forward urgently. "We have to warn Duo. I want to help. What can I do?"

Mbeki grinned. "Patience. Our small group is working to distribute spies wherever we can. I'm afraid you'll have to leave your business. If they find you, they will most assuredly use you to get to your friend."

"We don't know if High Functioning Newtypes are easily assimilated. They seemed to be in a holding pattern for me. I think they're trying to perfect this technology even now. If the pilots have disappeared as well, it means they know something is going on, whether they know what is or not, we'll see. However the most strategic thing for the Preventors to do would be to target the people they know as a trap. Unfortunately, you and miss Catherine are the easiest targets, and the closest."

"We want you to send a message to Duo. I assume he has a general account?"

Hilde nodded. "He has a couple under different names. I know some of them, but not all. But I do know which ones are outside of the Preventors knowledge."

"Excellent," Zechs said.

"They're here," Duo yelled from the other room. Heero got up from his computer to go to the window. It was a good "they", fortunately.

A jeep had pulled up and two people got out. Somehow, Trowa managed to look cool even in this heat, though he wore cooler clothes, khaki brown shorts and a tank top. Ahmad was running to meet them already. They talked to each other and Trowa looked toward the house with concern. The other woman was a petite blonde woman. She was dressed in a light cotton shirt and pants and a headscarf, which blew in the desert wind. She carried a small black bag. Heero had never seen her before. However he guessed it was one of Quatre's sisters by her looks.

There was a small gasp beside him and Quatre stood unsteadily. He looked almost alarmed.

"Is something wrong?" He asked quietly.

Quatre shook his head, but a look of immense guilt tinged his features. It was a look Heero hadn't seen for a long time. He looked back out with curiosity. The woman pulled a cane out of the back of the car while Trowa grabbed two duffles and the three made their way through the wind and heat toward the house.

Duo had opened the door and there was a bit of scuffling as they set their things down. Heero went to meet them, Quatre following close behind.

"Duo, where is he? Is he okay," Trowa's soft but urgent voice rang through the front room.

"Can't be too bad, Tro, he's standing," Duo assured. He turned to the woman. "But just barely. I'm hoping you'll be able to figure that out. Name's Duo. I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie."

The blond woman smiled, her eyes sparkling. She shook his hand heartily. "Good to meet you. Irea Winner."

"Winner?" Duo said. "Figures. Hey, Tro, good of you to join the party."

The woman turned accusing eyes on her brother, who stood in the doorway, holding it for support, though it was also obvious he was skulking, hesitant to move forward. He smiled weakly at his sister, looking for all the world like a little boy who knew he was in trouble.

"Irea. I..."

"Quatre!" In four small swift steps, she had her brother in his arms, leaving the cane behind at the door. Quatre stared at it, even as he was embraced. "I've been so worried. You really should have called."

Quatre's arms came up and he wrapped them around the petite woman. "I'm sorry. I just..."

"Oh Quatre. You need to stop blaming yourself. I don't hold you responsible at all, but I miss my little brother. You shouldn't feel guilty for things that weren't in your control at all."

Quatre's eyes watered and he looked down. It was obvious that there was a lot behind this statement. Heero made a mental note to research this girl and find out what happened.

"Irea," Quatre said softly, tightening his embrace.

Suddenly he sagged heavily and would have collapsed if his sister hadn't held him firmly. All three boys started forward, ready to assist, but Irea was ahead of all of them, turning him firmly and hooking his arm over her shoulder. She walked toward the labs downstairs.

"Trowa, could you bring my bag? Ahmad, we'll need to leave soon." She seemed to have no problem taking command of the situation.

"Right," The man said, grabbing the two duffles.

Trowa grabbed the smaller bag and followed the woman, turning to Heero on the way.

"Heero. Wufei is on his way and he can't be trusted. We'll need to leave as soon as possible. If he gets here before we go, we'll be in trouble. I'll fill you both in while she looks at Quatre, but we need to leave now.

Duo sighed and walked beside Heero.

"It's always Wufei What is wrong with that kid, I swear."

"This is bad," Heero said gravely. "Preventors can block air traffic. If he knows we're flying, he'll be able to stop us."

"Don't worry too much yet," Ahmad said. "Remember this is a Winner Jet. They're not beholden to the same rules as general public air traffic. It takes a pretty heavy warrant to be able to ground them. By that time, you should be well on your way."

"I've got some Id's we can use if we need to melt away," Duo added. "Heero I'm sure you have a couple. He got a quiet nod.

* * *

"Dammit!" Noin slammed the phone down and sighed heavily. She rubbed her eyes tiredly. A hot drink was set beside her.

"Don't get too worked up. You're doing everything you can," Une soothed.

"I'm sorry," she replied. "It's just without a signed treaty, it's almost impossible to get these guys to allow any sort of warrant. I can't even get a general warrant with the country and that doesn't even include the Winner's or the Maguanacs in particular. They're both neutral parties, outside of the government's influence."

"Wufei is moving fast, though. If he can't get to them, we'll just have to do some damage control. All five of them are registered with the Preventors I doubt they can move around too much quickly."

Noin shook her head. "These boys are resourceful. We've lost sight of them more times than I can count."

"Of course. They are Gundam Pilots. But a lot has changed since peace was declared. They're hopeful for the future. They'll understand once we can actually get to them. Those boys are our biggest hope for peace."

"You're right. But they could be our biggest threat, if we don't find them soon."

"We don't know of all of their resources, but I doubt they have many anymore. Winner's funds are too traceable. They wouldn't be likely to use those."

Une saw the doubt in Noin's eyes.

"Don't worry," she said gently, "We won't do anything to harm them. Once they understand the truth, they'll be on our side." She scrutinized her second in command. "It's not just that though, is it. You want to look for Zechs."

Noin nodded. "I haven't slept much since he ran off," she said dejectedly. "I've tried all the contacts I know, but unless I can go undercover, I won't be able to find him. The communication channels are just too old. But I know White Fang is still alive, even if they're scattered."

"I understand. If his trail hadn't gone cold, I would have let you try. However we need to try to get the rest of the Gundam pilots before they disappear. Once we have them, you can use them as your direct resources if you like."

Noin nodded gratefully. "You're right. Thank you, commander."

Lady Une's eyes hardened.

"Keep trying. Even the Winner family isn't above the law. We just have to pull some more strings. Once they move outside of Arab influence, we may have a better chance of cornering them."

"Yes Ma'am,"

* * *

Howard and the three boys sat once more in the small computer lab, watching the recorded message of Wufei.

"Somethings funny about it. It's Wufei though," Duo said.

"I agree. I knew something was strange too. So I dug through all my recorded messages and did a sound analysis. I would have sent something right away, but we don't exactly have a high tech computer system in the circus."

Duo chuckled as Trowa continued.

"But I found a school with a pretty good lab. Take a look."

Trowa played part of the message. Then he played the same thing over.

"_Part of the luxury of being of high rank."_

"So?" Duo said, squinting.

"Check out the time stamp this time," Trowa said. He played the message again, seemingly twice.

"I'll be damned," Duo said now, understanding.

"It's the same recording," Heero confirmed.

"It's fake!" Duo said emphatically. "Damn, it would take a pretty skilled sound guy to put that together."

"So then where is Wufei?" Heero asked.

"He sent me one more message after that and I couldn't find anything strange in the analysis. He looked bad though. He was pale."

"You think they got him, Heero?"

"Yeah," Heero said quietly. They promptly filled Trowa in on the things they had found, including the new Gundams, showing him the data and the new schematics. He seemed surprised, but unconcerned.

"What do you think, Trowa?" Duo asked.

"What's there to think about? I trust Quatre."

Heero regarded Trowa thoughtfully. It seemed that the three of them were committed to joining Quatre, whether to stop him or help him.

Irea entered, looking perplexed but satisfied.

"How is he?" Trowa asked softly.

"He's all right, really. He's heavily sedated. His mind can't handle the signals he's getting from the nanobots. Their frequency is mismatched so it's effecting his brainwaves. It's good that you froze a sample, but I'm afraid we don't have a way to transfer them in this heat. I took as many slides as I could. If I can get to some better equipment I can analyze them.

"Is it mind control?" Duo asked.

Irea nodded. "I've never seen anything quite like it. I want to keep Quatre asleep until we get to Dubai where I can get a resonator to break the rest of them up. These are much like the nano's we use for highly refined medical treatments but much more complex. Until we break them down, they'll continue to work until they can't sustain their activity or until his body naturally rejects them. Since they work on the brain, it's dangerous to wait."

"We're ready to leave now," Trowa said. "The jet is prepped. Can you get what you need quickly, once we reach the space port?"

Irea nodded. "I can even have some of our staff waiting with the supplies. We wont even have to leave the port. We can use the Winner's space plane for transport to the lunar base."

Heero nodded. "After that, we'll go underground."

"I would like to go with you," Irea said. At the impending protests, she held up a hand. "I have to get back to my office, but I can arrange to travel later. I spent a lot of time studying nano-med research. I think I can use my lab to do some analyses. I'll go with you to the moon. After that, if I'm sure Quatre is okay, we'll part ways. But I'd like to stay in contact. You'll need some help. Unless you think you have the medical resources to handle this. You need some sort of medical expertise to be able to counteract this."

"We will need you. But we don't want them to know how much we know already. If you disappear, that will be pretty clear." Trowa said, reasoning out the situation.

"We'll find a way to contact you," Heero said. "We'll need someone who understands this."

Irea looked doubtful, but Trowa took her hands.

"Trust us, Irea. We won't deceive you."

"But you better be careful," Duo said. "I'll give you a way to get in touch with us if something happens."

Irea agreed.

With that, Duo and Trowa left to load the jet.

* * *

On the large screen, Noin did not look happy. A pale hand reached to adjust the volume.

"You don't look happy, Lady Une."

"No. We have let you down."

"You tried your best. Our research was just too slow ultimately. This was not unexpected." The voice answered. "Peace is never easy."

"We have one of the Gundam Pilots now. So far the process seems to have been successful."

"Yes. I'm sorry it had to be so painful for him. And how about yourself. Are you having any problems?"

"As long as I take the medications, it's not a problem. The side effects are minimal."

"Excellent. You must make sure you continue the medications. I don't want you getting sick."

"Yes."

"Don't worry about the other pilots too much for now. I have planned for every contingency. There will be other opportunities."

"Thank you, leader."

"For ultimate peace."

"Yes. Ultimate peace."

* * *

Trowa took the short flight of stairs up to the second level two at a time. As he reached the door at the end of the hall, he found Heero, who was strapping the remaining sandal on Quatre's other foot. Trowa watched in silence as Heero then sat the sleeping boy upright, being overly careful to shift Quatre's head to lean on his shoulder. He had already wrapped Quatre in a light blanket and secured it over his legs before slipping a hand under Quatre's knees and sliding him off the bed. Trowa blinked as he turned and looked at the taller boy, gingerly shifting Quatre a bit higher as he raised a questioning brow at Trowa.

"The jet is ready," Trowa said softly. Do you need any help?

Heero nodded at a bag on the desk. "That should have the rest of our belongings. Rashid told me what to pack, so we should have most of what Quatre needs."

Trowa nodded, grabbing the bag and followed Heero and his blond burden down to the jet, musing on the way as to what he was seeing.

In the jet, Heero slipped into the back, letting Irea help to strap Quatre into a seat. Irea gave the blond another shot of sedative as Trowa climbed in the passenger side. As he shut the cockpit door and grabbed his radio, he looked over at Duo.

"Duo, are Heero and Quatre..."

Duo chuckled.

"Honestly, I don't know what they are. But I see you've noticed it too." After a moment, Duo asked, "Hey. Does it bother you, Trowa?"

"It's not like I haven't thought about it." Trowa said seriously. "Quatre and me that is. But Quatre still feels guilty for what happened to me. It's hard to explain. But somehow, this feels right."

"Well than you're a far better man than me," Duo huffed. "I'm jealous, and I already have a girlfriend."

Trowa smiled softly at his friend.

* * *

Notes: HAARP is an actual program that this is all based on. ELF is also a current known project. If you look it up, you'll find quite a few theories around what it does and what it has the potential for. Pretty wild stuff.

If I've made any serious blunders as to what Newtypes are or what they might be defined as now, please let me know. I really mostly know Gundam from Gundam Wing and don't know most of the series after it. If they've ever elaborated on it, if you let me know, I'll do my best to change to accommodate that, or at least stick with it ongoing.


	12. Strength of Heart Arc Chapter 11

Title: Strength of Heart

Author: Caer

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Eventual Yaoi, Action, Adventure

Pairings: 1x4

Status: Work in progress (part 11)

Disclaimer: This is simply fanfiction. I don't own this anime and I'm not making any money. It's just for fun. Like that wasn't obvious. Still.

Wow. So sorry it took me so long. I've just been totally stumped and without motivation to write the rest of this chapter. I think it's because I have a lot of complexity to deal with and I'm not quite ready for the next steps of this story, so I just kept putting it off. Please enjoy and I will really try to get the next part out sooner.

* * *

Quatre woke for what seemed like the hundredth time. He felt disoriented and strange, but his soldier instinct kicked in and he quickly assessed his situation. He was groggy, and the room was a bit cold, though he was covered heavily with blankets. He could feel Heero near him, asleep and he relaxed, so there was no reason to hide his wakefulness. He opened his eyes slowly, and found that he was in a hotel room of some sort. He could make out the black shape of Heero on the bed next to his. The boy seemed unaffected by the cold, sleeping on top of the covers. His face looked relaxed and so much younger in slumber. Quatre's mouth quirked in a soft smile.

Looking around the room, the cool white light that leaked in through the blinds,Quatre realized they must be in space. Having last been aware of the glaring desert sun, this startled him to stir, pushing the blankets down and taking in a sharp breath.

"Quatre."

Though minuscule, the sound was enough to wake the Japanese boy and he was quickly up and at Quatre's bedside as the blond sat up on his elbows. Heero sat on the edge of the bed and looked him over. Quatre blinked the sleep out of his eyes and gathered his thoughts.

"Heero, where are we?"

"The moon. It's a good place to get lost easily," Heero replied quietly. Quatre gasped low in his throat. He had been out all through that? "How are you feeling?" Heero helped Quatre sit up fully and lean back against the pillows while, he did a quick self assessment.

"Better. Mmmh. Clearer," compared to when he was last conscious, the roaring in his head had stopped. There was no confusion or headache. He only remembered bits and pieces of what had happened since he was abducted.

"Good."

"Heero," Quatre whispered, even though they were alone, he didn't have the energy to speak loudly yet. "Heero, what are we doing here?"

"Irea brought us in your private craft."

"Oh." Quatre said quietly. He was still trying to deal with the fact that his sister was here, let alone involved in their dealings. He didn't want to drag her into anything else. He would deal with that later though.

"We're already booked under assumed names. Rashid is going to meet us on L2 in 2 weeks with supplies." Heero brought him back to the present.

Quatre nodded quietly. They had done quite a bit of work. He was thankful they had moved quickly.

"I can update you on what we've found. Do you want to do it now, or do you want to sleep some more?"

"I feel like all I've done is sleep." the blond lamented though he was grateful for the choice.

"You needed it," Heero replied seriously. "I'll make some tea. You should start with these."

Heero handed Quatre two drives he had pulled off the nightstand, and rose to get them something to drink. Quatre was probably dehydrated from being sedated so long.

"I'll get your laptop. This is the data Trowa brought."

"Right." Quatre replied, subdued. Heero returned with his laptop. "Quatre?"

"Heero," Quatre replied, looking at his bedspread. "I think I may have made a mistake."

Heero took the laptop out but sat down, waiting for the blond to explain.

"I've dragged you into something that you didn't want. I..." his voice trailed off weakly and he swallowed, looking up and meeting Heero's eyes. "I thought if I brought you with me that I would be helping, but I think I may have just made things worse. I'm worried about you, but I don't want you to do something you don't want to. I mean... I have resources. If you want to leave, you can. You can go anywhere you want. I'll make sure of it... as long as you're safe. You don't have to..."

"Quatre,"

Quatre shut up at Heero's low warning tone. Heero so easily sent his spinning up, into a random direction, and suddenly he found he had no energy left to say what he wanted to say. He simply gave into the intensity of Heero's eyes and found himself lost.

"Earth and the colonies are in danger. I won't abandon them. Or you."

"I... thank you." Quatre said quietly. Heero reached a hand and slid it into Quatre's blond hair, making the blond's breath catch. His hands were so warm. Quatre found himself unable to do anything but stare back.

Heero expected and welcomed the reaction this time. The slight dilation in those blue-green eyes, and Quatre's body, seeming to relax and tense at the same time. Heero slid his hand through the blond hair indulgently, before sliding his hand along the boy's chin and neck.

"Your fever seems to be gone. I'd better go tell Irea."

He exited, and Quatre shivered and then sighed, pulling up the files and getting started.

* * *

"They've already gone. They took off in Winner's private jet. The caretaker claims that they're using it to visit family."

"Any idea where they're headed?" Noin asked Wufei over the com link. He was currently heading from the house back toward the car after having spoken to one of the Maguanac caretakers.

"The moon. Should I follow?"

"Wufei, you know it won't do any good. They'll have disappeared already. We'll have another opportunity. The leader has already foreseen it. She needs you here. Return immediately."

"Right. On my way back then."

"Wufei,"

"Yes?" The Chinese boy raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"If it bothers you, doing this job, we can delegate it to someone else. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"We must do whatever is necessary for the peace. I have the best chance at finding them, and the best chance of convincing them that this is right."

"If you change your mind..."

"I'll inform you." Wufei replied.

Wufei, one more thing.

"Yes?"

"I have some contacts there that used to be in White Fang."

"Should I ask about Zechs?"

Noin looked away, embarrassed. "His trail has gone pretty cold, but I thought we might find something."

Wufei smirked, but he knew better than to question the woman's desires. She wanted to find Zechs for an entirely ulterior reason than the peace of Earth and the Colonies. However, as long as the purpose was intertwined, he had no problem indulging her.

"As you wish."

* * *

The morning found Trowa and Duo making their way into the motel breakfast lounge. It was a large room, set with couches and coffee tables. Only a handful of people were up this early so it was a relatively quiet scene, except for a few early risers. Looking around, they soon spotted Heero and Quatre sitting on one of the couches. They already had a pot of coffee ordered along with a plate of breakfast breads. They were talking quietly.

"Hey Trowa, is it me, or are they sitting pretty close?" Duo whispered.

Trowa smiled quietly and the two made their way over to the pair, Duo throwing a folder on Quatre's lap.

"Id's, cash and credit cards all taken care of. How are you feeling, Quatre?"

"Better, thanks to you guys," Quatre smiled as they sat and helped themselves to breakfast.

"You still look a little tired." Trowa said softly. "Did Irea take a look at you?"

Quatre nodded, a little distractedly.

"She says I'm healthy enough. I'll be able to rest on the way to L2. We all will." Quatre leafed through the paperwork Duo had handed him. He looked up in surprise. Duo nodded.

I don't know which one it is, but all of our old accounts have been opened... at least the ones you guys told me about."

"Which means that at least one of the Doctors is still alive."

"We can't assume that." Heero warned. "If the preventors are already part of this, it could be them. They already have Wufei. Whoever opened those accounts will be able to track us if we use them. If someone is trying to get to us..."

"Which means we have to find out who is behind reopening them."

"It doesn't make sense." Duo said, leaning back. "Who's behind this? If the preventors are part of the conspiracy, how did it start? Did a group infiltrate? Or did it start there? What were they thinking?"

"It's not an improbable conclusion." Heero stated blandly. "Think about it. Quatre said that it felt like the Zero system."

Quatre nodded weakly when all eyes tracked to him for corroboration.

"It's a system that calculates for all possibilities and relays the best chance for success. In battle, it can help to calculate the best outcome. But if someone uses it for something beside battle, what then?"

Heero paused, while the others took some time to digest that possibility.

"What if someone started to use the Zero for something more long term? Even something seemingly innocent... like peace?"

A pin could have dropped now. Trowa was the first to speak.

"Oh my god,"

"Holy shit," Duo added. "You mean?"

"We can't be sure. But Quatre didn't rebuild the Gundams for nothing... right Quatre?"

Quatre, for his part, was a little pale. He nodded. All eyes were on him now, and he felt their concern, even if he couldn't meet their gaze. It was time to explain himself. He wet his dry lips with his tongue before starting.

"The Zero would calculate the fastest path to success. It doesn't take into account freedom, or human rights. However, it does calculate human nature in battle. Humans, by nature, fight to survive. Any living being fights to survive... whether it's right or not. We can't just stop. So how does the Zero system solve that problem?"

"By controlling human nature," Duo said, looking a bit sick.

Trowa put a hand on Quatre's shoulder.

"Is this what you saw, Quatre?" he asked softly. "Is this why you rebuilt the Gundams?"

"I wasn't sure," the blond said softly. "But it was too frightening to ignore."

"But the Zero system was destroyed, right? The only one left was in Wing Zero itself!" Duo argued.

"And Epyon," Heero replied. "Trowa disabled the Zero System on Barge, but it might have still functioned.

"Besides, there were other factions that analyzed the data from the Zero system when we were captured." Quatre added.

"But who?" Trowa asked. "Who would have reactivated it for that purpose?"

"We're going to have to find out," said Heero. "We'll need to find out who is behind it and how they're spreading it. Since it was a Doctor who went after Quatre, we can start with medical facilities and see if we can find how it's being distributed." Heero looked up sharply. They all turned to see Irea approaching their group.

"I can probably help with that," she said smiling.

The boys stood up as Irea joined. She went directly to her brother and put a hand on the side of his head, checking his eyes and grasping his wrist to take his pulse.

"Irea..." Quatre said softly.

"Your still a little hot, but your pulse is back to normal. You'll probably need to wear the resonator helmet a few more nights to make sure the nanobots are all deactivated. In the meantime, I can help you get the information you need."

"Irea, I can't let you get any more involved than you already are. This could get dangerous fast."

"Quatre, you can't push me away again. I can help you."

"Irea, you've already been hurt because of me. You could jeopardize everything you have. Not just your career, but your life!"

"If there's danger, Quatre, you all are going to need a doctor!"

"The Maguanacs have a field doctor."

"No. You know that's not good enough, Quatre. I majored in neuroscience and worked for 4 years for Novartis' nanotechnology section. Unless you know someone with that knowledge, you're not going to have any way of studying this technology and countering it."

"She's right, Quatre. We need her as a resource,"

Quatre looked at Duo in desperation.

"Duo, please don't. I can't let her get involved."

"Qat, she already is involved," Duo said plainly. "If they're targeting hospitals, it's only a matter of time before they get a hold of her. Face it man, she's safer with us."

Quatre bit his lip, and looked at Heero, as if for help. He merely nodded almost imperceptibly.

Quatre sighed and nodded.

"All right. We'll need to get you some equipment so that we can build you a proper lab."

Irea's eyes lit up when she smiled and hugged him.

"I know just the resource satellite we can start with."

* * *

Lady Une straightened her uniform tunic as she sat in one of the plush chairs of the office foyer. She had been nursing a headache all day, but work wasn't going to wait. She didn't look forward to this meeting.

"Lady Une?"

She looked up. The secretary hung up the phone and smiled.

"Miss Dorlian will see you now."

Une stood as the secretary pushed a button and a door slid open. Inside, was all glass and stainless steel. The office was immaculately clean, the reflective surfaces made everything look even bigger. A large floor to ceiling window overlooked the business district of one of the L4 colonies. Relena was at the wet bar already preparing some iced tea. It was welcome after the heat of the colony.

"Miss Une. It's a pleasure to see you. Though I take it you don't bring good news?"

"I'm afraid not," Une said glibly. She sipped some iced tea and sat down at the large glass desk across from Relena. "It seems that the rest of the Gundam pilots have disappeared. Unfortunately our Earth contingent targeted Quatre Winner without knowing who he was. He escaped before Wufei could get to him. We've tried to find them, but one thing those boys knew was how to stay off the radar."

"I understand," Relena said turning and looking out the window. "It's a shame that it happened, but not at all unexpected. Do you think that my brother contacted him?"

"We haven't seen a sign of him either, but there's no evidence that he's been in contact with any of them. However, they were all at one of the Winner complexes when it happened. I suspect when Quatre returned, they decided to leave quickly. The Maguanacs have been ultimately unhelpful. Since they're still under Middle East jurisdiction and not part of the Alliance, we don't have much in the way of legal recourse."

"Of course not. It will be a while before all nations are on board with the peace plan. However, we are making good progress. Considering the hundreds of organizations we have to eventually absorb, things have gone amazingly smoothly. I am pleased."

"Yes, but of all people, the Gundam pilots could be the biggest threat to peace. We must find them."

"There is no need," Relena brushed the issue away like an annoying fly. "Things are in hand. The fact is, they are just one of the many challenges we will have to face before we can achieve ultimate peace. We have intercepted several messages we believe to be White Fang communications. It seems there are quite a few groups arming themselves again and speaking out against ESUN and the peace movement. We will have to deal with them carefully. Have you finished the mobile doll production?"

"Yes," Une replied. "We have enough troops to protect the main hubs."

"Excellent. I want you to increase production. We will need more once the Libra 2 is complete. They will be for defense only. As for the Gundam Pilots, they will come to us eventually if we're patient. In the meantime, we will continue the plan."

"Should I put the pilot's pictures out on the wire?"

"As persons of interest for now. It is vitally important that people don't see them in a bad light. Once they join the cause, they will need to be known as heroes. I don't want to risk their image if we can avoid it."

"I understand. I will also monitor Winner Enterprises accounts and communications. We might get lucky if they try to use any of those accounts."

"It's a good precaution to take. Heero's too smart to get caught easily. However I don't think they will have too many resources at their disposal. They haven't had time since the war since they've been involved with the preventors. If they strike, it will be by infiltrating our forces... random acts of sabotage probably. We will have to be vigilant."

"Then I will make sure that our people know their faces."

Relena nodded. "That will suffice. Thank you Miss Une."

"For Ultimate Peace."

"Ultimate Peace."

* * *

"That should do it. I've sent our jet back to earth, and I've put in an order to one of our Medical Resource sattelites. They'll be sent to L2 and we can pick them up before we meet Rashid. I've also ordered some equipment from my lab on L4 to be shipped. That should be enough to start."

Quatre, Duo and Irea were at the Lunar Hospital. Irea had used her access to get them into the offices so that she could run some tests. In the meantime Heero had planted a back door into the system so that even if Irea lost her clearance, they could hack into the systems. It would be far easier and less trackable than hacking in from outside.

Quatre stood watching as Irea collected what she needed. Duo was outside on watch.

"Unfortunately the sample they saved from you was too broken down for me to get any real information. However I was able to analyze the proteins in the substance. That may help."

"We need to get going soon before people get curious." Quatre said softly.

Irea stood up and walked to one of the big drives, resting on her cane while pulling her own smart drive out of the interface.

"This should be enough. I have your DNA information and the records we need, and it looks like Heero's program is installed. I can wait for the equipment for everything else."

"Irea..." Quatre hesitated. However Irea knew he was attempting again to talk her out of it. She walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He chose to stare at her cane.

"Quatre, this wasn't your fault. We both went after father. You didn't force me to come with you that day."

"But if you hadn't kept me from hitting the bulkhead."

"Then you would be walking with this instead."

"You know I wouldn't, Irea. My body is designed to take higher impact."

"Well I didn't know that at the time. Besides your my little brother. I don't think I could have stopped what I did even if I knew. I love you! Plus, this will heal. It just needs time. You can't keep blaming yourself for everything that happens. And you can't try to protect me. This is my life. It's my choice to come with you. I'm the older sister. I get to protect you."

The door opened and they both jumped, but relaxed when they saw Duo walking in. Dressed in his usual black, he stood out like a sore thumb against the white lab coats of the hospital. However he was very good at not being seen, even like that. A ballcap and a jacket made him look like a visitor anyway since they were close to the outpatient lobby.

"We need to get going. Some nurses started to talk about who you were. I distracted them with my charm and wit of course, but they'll get antsy if we don't leave soon."

Quatre smiled at Duo's levity. "Thanks, Duo." He handed Duo a bag with some equipment in it.

"Hey are we stealing this stuff? Quatre I never knew! My little boy is growing up!" he wailed, sounding a bit like a Jewish mother. Quatre tried not to laugh.

"Knock it off, Duo." He grabbed a bag himself. "Fortunately or unfortunately, these are pieces that were going to be recycled. So you'll probably be the one helping to put them together."

"Why me?" He said as they exited.

"Well weren't you the one who said you could get anything working again?"

"It was a business slogan and I was talking about Mechanics, not lab equipment."

"What's the difference?"

Irea laughed and the nurses watched them leave, blushing when the boy with the long hair winked at them.

Outside, Heero was waiting with a white panel van. He opened the side door and Trowa helped them load the few things they had. Duo stopped and gawked for a minute.

"A surveilance van? How in the name of all that is sneaky did you get that setup?"

"I borrowed it." Heero said Dryly. "Our flight doesn't leave for L2 for another two days. I want to check a few people out before we leave to see if I can get any information."

"Like who?" Quatre asked.

"Like the head of nanoelectronics. The moon is a main artery for delivery to Earth."

"Sweet!"

Duo helped Irea into the passenger seat before heading to the other side. However Trowa had already climbed into the front.

"I'm driving Duo," he said softly.

"But Trowa, I always drive."

"Not with sensitive equipment in the back. Remember what happened last time?"

Duo huffed and climbed in the back.

"You know, you wreck one crime lab on wheels and they never let you forget it. As I recall we were being chased."

The two pilots continued to argue good naturedly. Quatre was about to climb in the other side when Heero's hand on his arm stopped him. He looked up, startled.

"Heero?"

Heero looked at him with that scrutinizing non expression. His dark blue eyes bore into Quatre's own blue green.

"Is something wrong Heero?"

Heero shook his head imperceptibly. Hesitating a moment more.

"Have dinner with me tonight. I already made reservations. We have things to talk about."

Quatre almost fell out of the van. Was Heero proposing a date? Or maybe he just wanted to discuss their plan. Quatre hoped the former. He couldn't help the goofy grin that spread over his face.

"Sure."

Heero relaxed imperceptibly, but Quatre noticed. He always did. He smiled even brighter even as he tried to school his expression as he climbed into the van's back seat. Heero climbed in after and shut the door as Trowa drove them away. However every time they were jostled Quatre felt butterflies in his stomach since Heero's hand would brush lightly against his.

* * *

Sheesh, you would think that this one little chapter wouldn't have given me so much trouble, but it was a booger to write. I just could not get the creative juices flowing. Hope you enjoy it, though you didn't get that much info or action in this one. Be warned that the next chapters will be launching into a lot of non Gundam boy info. I'm mapping it out right now. However it will give the actual plot a kick in the pants. I have so much to keep track of now, I really have to map it out carefully.


End file.
